Building a closer China ASEAN community with a shared future

Having gone through the "Golden Decade" and "Diamond Decade", the 21st China ASEAN Expo and China ASEAN Business and Investment Summit were recently held in Nanning, Guangxi, officially opening a new chapter in this grand event of "diamond studded crown". This expo, which has been held in conjunction with the construction process of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area since its inception, is keeping pace with the development of China ASEAN relations and making new contributions to building a closer China ASEAN community with a shared future.

The friendly relations between China and ASEAN have a long history and are good neighbors, friends, and partners. Both sides have always walked hand in hand on the path of jointly building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and constructing a China ASEAN community with a shared future, which has become the most successful and dynamic example of cooperation in the Asia Pacific region. In 2021, China and ASEAN countries upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership. China has maintained its position as the largest trading partner of ASEAN for 15 consecutive years, and ASEAN has also been China's largest trading partner for 4 consecutive years.

As an indispensable platform for cooperation between China and ASEAN, the East Asian Expo has established channels for political, economic, trade, cultural and other cooperation and exchanges, creating huge opportunities for businesses from both sides to enter each other's markets. Tropical fruits from Thailand, handicrafts from Indonesia, ancient tree tea from Laos... The dazzling array of products at the East Expo is constantly entering the Chinese market. Biopharmaceuticals, electronic information, and new energy materials from China are also welcomed by the markets of ASEAN countries. According to statistics, in the 21 years since the East Expo was held, the bilateral trade scale between China and ASEAN countries has rapidly expanded, growing from 876.38 billion yuan in 2004 to 6.41 trillion yuan in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 11%.

At present, the global economic landscape is accelerating its evolution, and the trend of deep adjustment of global industrial and supply chains and regionalization of cooperation is emerging. China and ASEAN, as the main forces in the Asia Pacific region, are also important entities in maintaining regional and even global industrial and supply chain security. With the joint efforts of both sides, the current version 3.0 of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) is in hot negotiations, the China ASEAN East Growth Area, the Lancang Mekong River and other sub regional cooperation are steadily advancing, the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" initiative is deeply linked to the ASEAN development plan, and the integrated development of China and ASEAN industrial chain supply chain is ushering in new opportunities.

Faced with the new situation, the East Expo actively seeks change and undertakes new cooperation needs and visions. This year's East Expo has further deepened the "platform+chain" exhibition mode, focusing on emerging fields such as green and low-carbon, artificial intelligence, and inviting chain owners and upstream and downstream enterprises to participate in the exhibition. Multiple supply and demand docking and industry exchange activities have been held to promote international cooperation in industrial and supply chains; At the same time, the ASEAN China Japan South Korea (10+3) Industrial Chain Supply Chain Matchmaking Conference was held, providing online docking services for 3600 enterprises, including nearly 500 foreign enterprises.

The enormous potential of China ASEAN cooperation has once again been demonstrated at the East Asian Expo, including the signing of over a hundred major projects, the establishment of cooperation mechanisms between 11 parks in the China ASEAN Industrial Cooperation Zone and key parks in ASEAN countries, and roundtable dialogues between 33 key parks in Guangxi and 21 key parks in ASEAN countries. Looking forward to the future, China will continue to adhere to a high level of opening up, take the East China Expo and other platforms as bridges, promote the joint construction of high-quality development of the "the Belt and Road", deepen the China ASEAN Free Trade Area and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) and other cooperation mechanisms, and strive to serve to build a closer China ASEAN community of shared future, bringing more development opportunities and benefits to the Asia Pacific and the world. (Source: Economic Daily Author: Yang Xiaolin)