In the first half of the year, the trade volume between China and ASEAN increased by 5.6% year-on-year

　　China News Agency, Beijing, July 14 (Reporter Li Xiaoyu) The latest data released by the General Administration of Customs of China on the 14th showed that ASEAN continued to be China's largest trading partner in the first half of the year, and the bilateral trade volume between China and ASEAN reached 2.09 trillion yuan ( RMB, the same below), an increase of 5.6% year-on-year, accounting for 14.7% of China's total foreign trade value.

　　Among them, China’s exports to ASEAN were 1.15 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.4% year-on-year, while China’s overall exports during the same period fell by 3%; imports were 938.57 billion yuan, an increase of 8.5%.

　　Li Kuiwen, a spokesman for the General Administration of Customs, said at a news conference held on that day that the growth of trade between China and ASEAN mainly has the following reasons.

　　First, the import and export trade of integrated circuits was active, driving trade between China and ASEAN to increase by 3.2 percentage points. In the first half of the year, China’s imports of integrated circuits from ASEAN increased by 23.8% year-on-year, accounting for 24.2% of the total value of imports from ASEAN; the export of integrated circuits to ASEAN increased by 29.1%, accounting for 7.8% of the total value of exports to ASEAN.

　　Second, imports and exports to Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand have grown steadily, driving China's overall trade with ASEAN to grow by 5.7 percentage points. Among them, trade with Vietnam increased by 18.1% year-on-year, and the import and export volume ranked first in ASEAN countries.

　　Third, the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area Upgrade Protocol has come into full force, and agricultural trade with ASEAN has grown rapidly. In the first half of this year, the import and export of agricultural products between China and ASEAN increased by 13.2% year-on-year, and trade with ASEAN increased by 0.8 percentage points.

　　At present, China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation is being further strengthened. China and ASEAN issued a joint statement a few days ago, promising to keep the market open, eliminate unnecessary trade restrictions, and create a favorable trade and investment environment.

　　The 15 members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) have repeatedly reiterated that they will sign the RCEP agreement this year. Analysts believe that after the signing of the agreement, China-ASEAN trade and investment will usher in greater development. (Finish)