China and ASEAN embark on a path of common prosperity

2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the strategic partnership between China and ASEAN, the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, and the 10th anniversary of the proposal to build a closer China ASEAN community of shared future. Experts generally stated in an interview with reporters from China Trade Daily that China and ASEAN are connected by mountains and seas. In recent years, both sides have pragmatically carried out various economic and trade cooperation, and have embarked on a correct path of long-term good-neighborly friendship, common development and prosperity. The relationship between China and ASEAN has become the most successful and dynamic model in Asia Pacific regional cooperation and a vivid example of promoting the construction of a Community of Common Destiny.
Comprehensive and multi-disciplinary cooperation
"In recent years, especially since the 'the Belt and Road' initiative was put forward, the scale of trade between China and ASEAN has gradually expanded and the structure has been constantly optimized." Ge Hongliang, director of the China ASEAN Maritime Security Research Center of Guangxi University for Nationalities and senior researcher of the Chahar Society, told reporters that in 2020, ASEAN became China's largest trading partner for the first time. In 2022, China's trade with ASEAN countries reached 6.52 trillion yuan, an increase of 15% year on year, For three consecutive years, we have been the largest trading partners of each other. In the first half of this year, China's imports and exports with ASEAN reached 3.08 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.4%, accounting for 15.3% of the total import and export value. ASEAN continues to maintain China's position as the largest trading partner.
The economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN presents a comprehensive coverage feature, involving multiple fields such as agriculture, industry, service industry, and digital economy. The characteristics and fields of cooperation between China and different regions and countries are also different. Ge Hongliang gave an example that for countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, China has more cooperation with them in traditional fields such as infrastructure and manufacturing, while Malaysia has cooperation in fields such as technology, health, epidemic prevention and control, biology, and digital economy. Especially, the digital economy has become a highlight of cooperation between the two sides, while China and Singapore have more cooperation in fields such as finance, the Internet of Things, and new energy.

Singapore is one of the famous international financial centers, and some European and American multinational corporations have regional headquarters in Singapore. With the help of Singapore's convenient financial services, they invest in China through Singapore. "Xu Ningning, Chairman of the RCEP Industrial Cooperation Committee and Executive Chairman of the China ASEAN Business Council, told reporters that Singapore has a sound financial platform, legal system, and an international professional service team, It can help Chinese enterprises expand financing channels and achieve growth through mergers and acquisitions. In addition, Singapore plays an active role in China's process of promoting the internationalization of Internationalization of the renminbi, especially in developing RMB as a trade settlement currency and investment currency.

Continuous deepening of interconnection between the two sides
In recent years, the connectivity between China and ASEAN has continued to deepen. One after another landmark projects have been completed, Cambodia's Golden Harbor Expressway has been opened to traffic, the China Laos Railway has opened the first fast cross-border Passenger train between China and ASEAN, the first high-speed railway in ASEAN, Ya'an Wanzhou high-speed railway has officially opened to traffic, and the new channel of international land and sea trade has opened the golden road of cross regional cooperation
The China Laos Railway is a landmark project of high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road", which will build a convenient international logistics channel between China and ASEAN. At the beginning of the opening and operation of the China Laos Railway, Passenger train and cross-border Freight train were operated in sections from Kunming to Mohan and Vientiane to Boten. On April 13 of this year, Kunming South railway station and Vientiane railway station of the China Laos Railway opened an international Passenger train in a two-way direction. The whole journey time, including the customs clearance time at the railway port, was 10 hours and 30 minutes. Kunming Vientiane was accessible on the same day.
According to the data released by China Railway Kunming Group of China Railway, as of June 3, the China Laos Railway had been in operation for 18 months, showing a booming trend of both passengers and goods. It has sent 16.4 million passengers and 21 million tons of goods in total. Safe transportation has remained stable, and the role of the golden transportation channel has become increasingly prominent. At present, 25 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China have successively run the China Laos railway cross-border Freight train, and the freight transport has covered Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and other countries and regions along the "the Belt and Road".
This year is the sixth year of the construction of a new international land sea trade channel. The channel is jointly built by western provinces of China and ASEAN countries, with Chongqing as the operating center and various western provinces and cities as key nodes. It utilizes transportation methods such as railways, sea freight, and highways to reach various parts of the world in the south. Wei Chaohui, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Guangxi International Expo Affairs Bureau, stated that currently, the land sea new channel transportation network has covered 393 ports in 119 countries and regions worldwide. With the help of this channel, ASEAN goods landed at the Gulf of Tonkin Port in Guangxi, and were quickly sent to the vast Chinese market from the sea rail intermodal trains shuttling day and night. And in western regions of China, such as Guangxi new energy vehicles, Chongqing laptops, Guizhou tea, Ningxia wine, Xinjiang nuts, etc., Chinese produced and made in China are moving towards ASEAN and even the world.
Free trade agreements play a positive role
Luo Yongkun, associate researcher of the Institute of Southeast Asia and Oceania of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told reporters that China ASEAN cooperation has led the economic and trade development of the entire Asia Pacific region, providing many solutions for the construction of the regional economic and trade cooperation framework, such as the China ASEAN Free Trade Area, bilateral free trade agreements between China and ASEAN countries such as Singapore and Cambodia, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
The China ASEAN Free Trade Area is the first free trade area established by China and ASEAN with external parties. At the China ASEAN Leaders' Meeting held in November 2022, it was announced to launch negotiations on upgrading the China ASEAN Free Trade Area version 3.0. On February 7 this year, the first round of negotiations on the ASEAN–China Free Trade Area version 3.0 was launched. From June 24 to 27, the third round of negotiations on the China ASEAN Free Trade Area version 3.0 was held in Kunming, Yunnan.
"In addition to the digital economy and green economy, the construction of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 will also include cooperation in areas of common concern, such as supply chain connectivity, competitiveness, consumer protection, small and medium-sized enterprises." Xu Ningning said that China and ASEAN have a total of about 1.5 billion netizens, and in the future, there is great potential for cooperation in specific fields, such as smart cities, artificial intelligence, Big data, cloud computing, blockchain, and telemedicine.
ASEAN is the initiator and leader of RCEP. Since the RCEP came into effect, the proportion of tariff relief products among member countries has increased significantly, and China's import and export to ASEAN has accelerated significantly. Now people can buy cheap Indonesian aquatic products, Vietnamese Coconut water, New Zealand milk, Philippine mangoes, Thai golden pillow durian and other commodities in China. In the future, China and ASEAN should fully utilize the favorable conditions brought by RCEP's open market for cooperation, and embark on a regional development path of cooperative development and addressing challenges, "said Xu Ningning.