Asean remains China’s largest trading partner. In the first eight months of this year, trade between China and ASEAN maintained growth, reaching $627.58 billion, up 13.3 percent year on year. Among them, China’s exports to ASEAN reached $364.08 billion, up 19.4% year on year; China’s imports from ASEAN reached $263.5 billion, up 5.8% year on year. In the first eight months, China-Asean trade accounted for 15 percent of China’s total foreign trade value, compared with 14.5 percent in the same period last year. It is foreseeable that as the RCEP continues to unleash policy dividends, there will be more opportunities and greater momentum for China and ASEAN to comprehensively deepen economic and trade cooperation.

With the continuous improvement of trade liberalization and facilitation, trade in agricultural products between China and ASEAN is expanding. Statistics from overseas show that in the first seven months, Vietnam exported about 1 billion US dollars of aquatic products to China, up 71% year on year; In the first half of this year, Thailand exported 1.124 million tons of fresh fruit to China, up 10 percent year on year. And the variety of agricultural trade is also expanding. Since the beginning of this year, Vietnamese passion fruit and durian have been listed in China’s import list.

Machinery and equipment has become a hot spot in the growth of trade between China and ASEAN. With the gradual recovery of the ASEAN economy, the demand for machinery and equipment in the Southeast Asian market is also growing. In the first seven months of this year, China’s mechanical and electrical products ranked first among similar imported products from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and other ASEAN countries.

What is noteworthy is that the implementation of free trade agreements such as the RCEP has injected strong impetus into China-Asean economic and trade cooperation, demonstrating broad prospects and unlimited potential for bilateral trade. Both China and ASEAN countries are important members of the RCEP, the world’s largest trading bloc. Cafta is recognized as an important pillar of our relationship, and these platforms can be dedicated to building constructive relations and strengthening cooperation between China and ASEAN to forge a common future together.