China-ASEAN trade cooperation to go to the future hand in hand
This year is the first year of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the first year of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) coming into force, and the construction of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 is about to start. From September 16th to 19th, the 19th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit will be held in Nanning, Guangxi. Attention-grabbing.
Version 3.0 construction is expected
Since the establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, the economic and trade achievements have been remarkable. After years of development and deliberation, the joint feasibility study of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area Version 3.0 is now being accelerated and has attracted much attention from all walks of life.
With the establishment of the strategic partnership between China and ASEAN in 2003, the construction of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area has been accelerated. In January 2010, the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area was fully completed, and an "upgraded version" was launched in 2019. Statistics show that the zero-tariff China-ASEAN Free Trade Area has covered more than 90% of the tax items of both sides. Since the establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, it has effectively promoted the process of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation between China and ASEAN, and has also provided a strong impetus for the integrated development of regional economies.
Data show that from 2010 to 2019, the bilateral trade volume between China and ASEAN increased by an average of 9.4% annually. In 2020, despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, ASEAN has become China's largest trading partner in goods, and China and ASEAN have achieved a historic breakthrough in becoming each other's largest trading partners. In 2021, against the backdrop of repeated global epidemics and slowing world economic recovery, the trade volume between China and ASEAN will continue to rise against the trend, reaching approximately US$878.207 billion, an increase of 28.1% over 2020. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, China-ASEAN import and export trade has grown against the trend, which fully reflects the strong resilience brought by the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area to China-ASEAN economic and trade relations.
According to reports, at the 19th China-ASEAN Expo, many parties will focus on the construction of the 3.0 version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and conduct in-depth discussions. Yuan Bo, deputy director of the Asian Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, said in an interview with a reporter from International Business Daily that in the field of trade, promoting the construction of the 3.0 version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area can benchmark the "Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement" (CPTPP) and other higher standard agreements to further improve the level of liberalization of trade in goods between China and ASEAN, reach mutual recognition agreements in the field of quality standards, and reduce non-tariff barriers; The Partnership Agreement (DEPA) will create a more stable and predictable development environment for companies from both sides to cooperate in areas such as expanding digital trade in regional markets.
Rapid growth of bilateral trade
The latest data released by the General Administration of Customs shows that in the first eight months of this year, the total value of trade between China and ASEAN was 4.09 trillion yuan, an increase of 14%, accounting for 15% of China's total foreign trade value. China has been ASEAN's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years, and ASEAN's status as China's largest trading partner has been further consolidated.
"From the perspective of the overall development this year, despite facing the external environment of increasing geopolitical conflicts and risks, the trade cooperation between China and most ASEAN countries is still in a relatively good state of development." Yuan Bo said.
It is worth noting that the growth rate of China's trade with most ASEAN countries is higher than the overall growth rate of China's foreign trade. According to customs data, in the first eight months of this year, the total value of trade between China and Malaysia was 855.1 billion yuan, an increase of 22%; the value of trade with Singapore was 457.23 billion yuan, an increase of 17.9%; the value of trade with Indonesia was 623.37 billion yuan, an increase of 17.9%. 29.4%.
"The data also shows that since the beginning of this year, the implementation of RCEP has formed a superimposed effect with the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, and the dividends brought by regional economic integration are gradually being released." Yuan Bo said.
RCEP has played an important role in China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation. It is understood that the Ministry of Commerce attaches great importance to serving enterprises and improving the ability of enterprises to use RCEP, and continues to actively promote the work in three areas: first, intensify efforts to promote the implementation of the "Guiding Opinions on High-quality Implementation of RCEP", and further promote local, industry and Enterprises seize the development opportunities of the implementation of the agreement and continue to release RCEP dividends. Second, vigorously organize the RCEP series of special trainings. Third, do a good job in public services for enterprises. Give full play to the role of the public service platform of the China Free Trade Zone Service Network, promote the construction of the public service platform for local free trade agreements, and provide "one-stop" services for enterprises.
Yuan Bo also said that some ASEAN countries such as China and Vietnam still have a certain scale of trade surplus, and it is necessary to further promote the balanced and sustainable development of bilateral trade in the future. For example, further expand the import of products from ASEAN countries, including promoting the facilitation and mutual recognition of inspection and quarantine measures in the field of agricultural products, and promoting the mutual recognition of quality standards in the field of consumer products; at the same time, strengthen cooperation to create more opportunities for Chinese enterprises to invest in ASEAN. A good environment, through local investment and production in ASEAN countries, promote the balanced development of trade.