Li Chenggang, assistant Minister of Commerce, 27，This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Asean Free Trade Area，In the past 10 years, China has effectively promoted the liberalization and facilitation of intra-regional trade and investment，China and ASEAN have entered a golden period of economic and trade cooperation，Bilateral trade increased from $292.8 billion in 2010 to $641.5 billion in 2019。
Li Chenggang said at the press conference of the State New Office on the same day that from January to August this year, the total value of trade between China and ASEAN reached 4,165.$500 million, an increase of 3.8%, accounting for 14% of China's total foreign trade.6%。Asean has become China's largest trading partner, which constitutes a good pattern of China and ASEAN being the largest trading partner of each other。
Li Chenggang introduced that in the next step, the two sides will enhance cooperation from three aspects: First, further strengthen anti-epidemic cooperation, ensure the smooth supply of anti-epidemic materials, enhance vaccine research and development and consumption cooperation, maintain the stability of the supply chain of the industrial chain, and adhere to personnel exchanges and logistics。Second, promote practical cooperation in economy and trade, further align the strategies of the "Belt and Road" proposal with those of other countries, accelerate the process of regional economic recovery, expand new cooperation areas such as digital trade and cross-border e-commerce, and increase support for small and medium-sized enterprises。Third, promote regional and global integration, deepen the establishment of the China-Asean Free Trade area, and push forward the signing of the RCEP within this year as scheduled。
Source: Xinhua