Video loading...
Xinhua News Agency, Nanning, September 9 (Reporters Huang Qinggang, Lei Jiaxing) CAEXPO, CAFTA, RCEP... Do you recognize all these terms? They are the China-ASEAN Expo, the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. These terms are the crystallization of deepening cooperation between China and ASEAN countries, let's take a look at it together!
"Malaysian Musang King durian, Vietnamese coconut, Thai jackfruit... In Guangxi, you can buy Southeast Asian fruits at any time, and the price is more reasonable. Ms. Chen, from Chiang Mai, Thailand, said she has lived in China for 11 years and can now buy a variety of Southeast Asian specialties through cross-border e-commerce platforms or experience stores.
The convenience in Chen Meini's eyes stems from the increasingly close China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation. In 2003, China and ASEAN established a strategic partnership, and in 2004, the China-ASEAN Expo was permanently settled in Nanning. In January 2010, the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area was fully completed, and an "upgraded version" was launched in 2019. Tariff reductions, trade barriers... In recent years, the development dividend of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area has been continuously released, and in the first half of this year, the trade volume between the two sides increased by 38.2% year-on-year.
In recent years, two-way investment cooperation between China and ASEAN has flourished. As of the end of June this year, China and ASEAN countries have invested more than US$310 billion in each other, and investment and cooperation between the two sides in manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure, high-tech, digital economy, green economy and other fields have steadily expanded.
On the shores of the Gulf of Tonkin, huge ships laden with cargo continue to enter the harbor and anchor, and there is a busy scene everywhere. In Qinzhou Port, crane operators smoothly load and unload containers, and trucks travel back and forth in the yard. As China's gateway port to ASEAN, Beibu Gulf Port has opened 31 foreign trade routes and realized navigation with more than 100 countries and regions and more than 200 ports.
"China has been our main trading partner for many years, and even under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, trade and investment cooperation between Malaysia and China is still booming, and we are committed to exploring new ways to deepen economic cooperation with China." Consul General of the Consulate General of Malaysia in Nanning, Azrimi Zakariya, said.
In November 2020, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was officially signed, and the world's largest free trade area was born, covering economies such as ASEAN and China, Japan and south Korea, involving trade in goods, trade in services, investment access, economic and technical cooperation, and e-commerce.
"The signing of the RCEP further promotes the good development of trade and investment relations between ASEAN and China." Consul General of the Consulate General of Vietnam in Nanning, Huang Yurong, said that ASEAN countries look forward to cooperation with China in manufacturing, digital economy, new energy and other aspects, and establish a more transparent and adaptable cooperation mechanism to market demand.
The 18th China-ASEAN Expo will be held from September 10 to 13 in Nanning, Guangxi. Wang Lei, Secretary-General of the Secretariat of the China-ASEAN Expo, said that the China-ASEAN Expo actively promotes various policies and measures such as reducing barriers and cross-border settlement, so that enterprises can directly enjoy the business opportunities of free trade zone construction in terms of trade and investment facilitation and cross-border park construction.