The trade volume in the first 10 months reached 798.4 billion US dollars, and the scale of China-ASEAN trade has expanded by more than 100 times in 30 years
Cooperation to the future
Our reporter Xue Peng
Recently, with a series of grand diplomatic activities, the ASEAN region has attracted the attention of the world: From November 10th to 13th, the series of ASEAN summits were held in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia; from November 15th to 16th, the leaders of the Group of Twenty The 17th APEC Summit was held in Bali, Indonesia; the 29th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting was held in Bangkok, Thailand on November 18.
Linked by mountains and rivers, China and ASEAN are good neighbors, good friends and good partners.
Since the start of the dialogue relationship in the early 1990s, China and ASEAN have joined hands and achieved mutual success. Mutually beneficial cooperation has been promoted in an all-round way, and fruitful results have been continuously achieved, setting an example of win-win cooperation and common development in the region.
Today, China and ASEAN have become each other's largest trading partners, with two-way trade reaching new highs and deepening cooperation.
Coffee from Malaysia, mango from Thailand, durian from Vietnam, and other ASEAN specialty products have become "frequent customers" on the table of Chinese consumers, while China's high-speed rail technology, new energy vehicles, and electromechanical products are also speeding up their entry into ASEAN, bringing local People's production and life have brought tangible benefits.
The scale of China-ASEAN trade has expanded by more than 100 times in the past 30 years. In the first 10 months of this year, ASEAN continued to remain my country's largest trading partner.
Not long ago, trucks full of Vietnamese durians arrived at the Youyiguan Port in Pingxiang Comprehensive Free Trade Zone, Chongzuo City, Guangxi.
These durians will be distributed to the domestic market after being inspected by the Customs Durian Special Inspection Platform.
It only takes 2 hours to transport some durians from Vietnam to Youyiguan Port, and the freshness and taste of durians will be better preserved.
In addition to durian, Vietnam's dragon fruit, watermelon, lychee, longan, banana, mango, jackfruit, rambutan, mangosteen, etc. are also allowed to enter China, continuously enriching the "fruit basket" of Chinese families, and farmers in related industries in Vietnam are also So benefit.
Friendship Pass is the main channel for China to import ASEAN fruits.
During the peak fruit season, durian, dragon fruit, jackfruit, mangosteen, etc. from ASEAN countries pass through customs and enter the table of Chinese consumers.
According to statistics, in 2021, the value of fruits imported from ASEAN at Friendship Pass will reach 18.19 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 95.5%.
As China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation continues to deepen, fruit trade continues to grow. In addition to road and rail transportation, ASEAN fruits also enter the country by sea and air.
According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China's imports of dried and fresh melons, fruits and nuts will total US$15.22 billion in 2021, of which ASEAN's Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Malaysia together account for more than 60%.
Fruit trade is only one aspect of China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation.
Over the past 30 years since China and ASEAN established dialogue relations, the scale of China-ASEAN trade has increased from less than US$8 billion in 1991 to US$878.2 billion in 2021, an increase of more than 100 times.
At the same time, since 2009, China has been the largest trading partner of ASEAN for 13 consecutive years.
Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, trade between China and ASEAN has grown against the trend, and they are now each other's largest trading partners.
Customs statistics show that in the first 10 months of this year, my country's imports and exports to ASEAN increased by 15.8% year-on-year, and ASEAN continued to remain my country's largest trading partner. The trade volume in the first 10 months reached US$798.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.8%.
According to Wang Jian, a professor at the School of International Economics and Trade, University of International Business and Economics, China-ASEAN cooperation is fruitful, not only in line with the interests of both sides but also has a solid foundation: "First, the combined population of China and ASEAN is close to 2.1 billion, most of whom are developing countries. The country has a relatively large space for economic development and great potential for market consumption. Secondly, China and ASEAN are geographically adjacent, have complementary industrial structures, and have many similarities in culture. Many Chinese products, such as machinery and equipment, are very popular in ASEAN countries. Especially after 2008, with the in-depth adjustment of the global trade pattern, the complementarity between China and ASEAN has continuously emerged, and the region has gradually gathered consensus on cooperation and formed a joint development force."
Wang Jian further analyzed that the stable cooperation between China and ASEAN is of positive significance to the development of the world economy.
"Today's world economy is full of uncertainties, and the China-ASEAN economy is increasingly closely cooperating, especially with the establishment and improvement of comprehensive cooperation mechanisms, such as the joint construction of the 'Belt and Road', China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, regional comprehensive economic partnership The China-ASEAN trade liberalization and facilitation level has been continuously improved, injecting stabilizing force into the economic growth of the Asia-Pacific region."
The level of interconnection between China and ASEAN countries continues to improve, and trade and industrial chains are closely connected
On November 16, with the sound of the whistle, a train full of containers left the freight yard in Dazhou, Sichuan, bound for Vientiane, Laos.
This is the debut of the China-Laos Railway (Dazhou-Vientiane) international freight train in the Western Land-Sea New Corridor, marking the official opening of the China-Laos Railway (Dazhou-Vientiane) international freight train in the Western Land-Sea New Corridor.
The my country-Laos Railway is an electrified railway connecting Kunming, Yunnan Province, China, and Vientiane, Laos, with a total length of 1,035 kilometers. It is the first overseas railway that adopts Chinese standards, is constructed and operated in cooperation with Laos, and is directly connected to the Chinese railway network.
Since its opening in December last year, the volume of cargo transportation has increased month by month. As of November 7 this year, the cumulative cargo transported by the China-Laos Railway has exceeded 10 million tons, and the cargo transportation has covered Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore and other countries and regions. In the region, more than 1,200 types of goods are transported, and the value of cross-border transport exceeds 12 billion yuan.
With the further improvement of the level of connectivity between China and ASEAN, the high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" has achieved landmark results: Cambodia has entered the "high-speed era", and the Jingang Expressway has opened to traffic; the China-Laos Railway has helped Laos realize the dream of "land-linked country"; A high-speed railway, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, has been successfully tested; the construction of the China-Laos-Thailand Railway and the Malaysian East Coast Railway has been accelerated; the "two parks" of China, Malaysia and China and Indonesia have become bigger and stronger; the new international land-sea trade channel has efficiently connected Europe and Asia.
"In the past, it took more than 20 days to transport agricultural products such as rice from Laos to Chongqing, Sichuan and other places." said Wu Yang, manager of Minsheng International Freight Forwarding Co., Ltd. It only takes 4 days from Laos to Chongqing.
In addition to the continuous improvement in the level of geographical interconnection, favorable policies have also promoted the in-depth connection of trade and industrial chains between China and ASEAN countries.
In particular, the effective implementation of RCEP will bring benefits to the construction and development of the industrial chain in the region.
According to the cumulative rules of origin, as long as the value-added part of the product in the process of processing belongs to 15 member countries, and the cumulative value-added exceeds 40%, it can enjoy the corresponding tariff preference.
This has brought confidence to the cross-border industrial cooperation of many enterprises in the region.
In the opinion of Xu Ningning, executive director of the China-ASEAN Business Council, China and ASEAN have political and business ties, the institutional arrangement of the free trade agreement, strong economic and trade complementarity, and the location advantages of cooperation and the support of interconnection. Since the beginning of this year, the economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN has continued to deepen.
On September 19th, the 19th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit with the theme of "Sharing RCEP New Opportunities and Promoting China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0" came to an end. Highlights the strong momentum of cooperation between China and ASEAN: 1,653 companies from 40 countries participated in the exhibition, an increase of 10% over the previous session, including 473 foreign exhibitors (including 338 from ASEAN); 77 Chinese and foreign purchasing groups participated online and offline. Among them, 66 groups have participated in the conference for many years in a row; 267 international and domestic cooperation projects have been signed, with a total investment of more than 400 billion yuan, an increase of 37% compared with the previous session.
"China will work with ASEAN to implement the RCEP agreement with high quality, seize the opportunities of the digital economy and green economy, promote the construction of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0, and build new international land-sea trade channels with more ASEAN countries to promote more High-quality products from ASEAN countries have entered the big Chinese market, continuously expanding the convergence of interests of both parties, and promoting the construction of a closer China-ASEAN community of destiny." On November 17, Shu Jueting, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, said.
Cross-border e-commerce has become a fast-growing new format and new model in the cooperation between China and ASEAN, injecting new impetus into China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation
In March of this year, a hot live broadcast event brought consumers in China and ASEAN closer.
The Consul Generals of Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam stationed in Nanning acted as "cargo anchors", enthusiastically promoting Malaysia's Musang King durian, Thailand's latex pillow, Vietnamese coffee, Guangxi jasmine tea and other high-quality products to consumers in China and ASEAN through e-commerce platforms.
"Cross-border e-commerce has become an important factor in maintaining and tightening economic and trade relations between Vietnam and China during the epidemic prevention and control period." said Du Nam Trung, Consul General of Vietnam in Nanning.
According to Pingama Tavithayano, Consul General of Thailand in Nanning, e-commerce can help people in rural areas of Thailand and China create and increase income, and the two sides should continue to strengthen cooperation in this field.
In recent years, e-commerce, as an important part of the digital economy, has continued to improve in scale and quality in China.
In 2021, China's e-commerce transaction volume will reach 42.3 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.6%, and more than 67 million people will be employed in e-commerce and related industries, becoming an important force for smooth domestic and international dual cycles.
Against this background, cross-border e-commerce has also become a rapidly growing new format and model in the cooperation between China and ASEAN, effectively hedging the impact of the epidemic on trade.
According to a report released by the Boao Forum for Asia Research Institute in July, the Asia-Pacific is the region with the best performance in cross-border e-commerce in the world, accounting for 53.6% of the global market size, and China and ASEAN have contributed a lot.
In the first half of this year, China's cross-border e-commerce exports to ASEAN increased by 98.5%.
Wang Jian said based on his intuitive experience: "From the international e-commerce forums, conferences, trainings, etc. held in recent years, we can see that there are more and more faces from ASEAN countries, and government officials, business owners and consumers are all highly concerned about the development of e-commerce. develop and actively participate in it.”
It is understood that the implementation of RCEP this year has injected new vitality into the development of regional cross-border e-commerce. China and ASEAN are exploring the formation of a benign, lasting and high-growth digital economic ecosystem.
At present, Guangxi has supported enterprises to set up more than 10 overseas warehouses in ASEAN countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia, and a cross-border e-commerce supply chain system for ASEAN has initially formed; ASEAN's cross-border e-commerce talent training base.
"The scale of import and export of cross-border e-commerce continues to expand, and it has become a new engine to stimulate the development of trade between China and ASEAN." Wang Xi, vice chairman of the Commercial Industry Committee of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said.
The report of the Boao Forum for Asia Research Institute believes that under the joint effect of RCEP, the normalization of the online economy, government support and market forces, China and ASEAN have broad prospects for cross-border e-commerce cooperation.
Against the background of regional economic integration development, the cooperation between China and ASEAN has more stamina and better prospects
Not long ago, the 25th China-ASEAN (10+1) leaders' meeting announced the launch of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 negotiations.
The two sides will start negotiations around areas of common interest, including digital economy, green economy, supply chain interconnection, competition, consumer protection, and small, medium and micro enterprises, etc., so that China-ASEAN Free Trade Area can better serve enterprises, face the future, Respond to global challenges.
At present, the COVID-19 epidemic has been repeatedly delayed, the fragility of the world economy has become more prominent, protectionism and unilateralism have intensified, and anti-globalization trends have emerged, causing further setbacks to globalization.
China implements a more proactive opening-up strategy and actively promotes the development of regional economic integration.
In recent years, China has actively built a network of high-standard free trade zones facing the world, and the number of free trade agreements signed by foreign countries has increased to 19; it has deployed and constructed 21 free trade pilot zones and Hainan Free Trade Port, and created a series of new highlands and test fields for reform and opening up ; Hold high-level open exhibitions such as the China International Import Expo, Service Trade Fair, and Consumer Expo; promote the high-quality development of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" and achieve solid and heavy achievements.
This year is the first year of China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership, and it is also the first year that RCEP came into effect.
The birth of RCEP reflects the inherent needs of the development of regional economic integration, and since its implementation has promoted the integrated development of industrial chains, supply chains and value chains in the region.
According to data recently released by the General Administration of Customs, in the first 10 months of this year, China's imports and exports to other RCEP members increased by 8.4% year-on-year, and imports and exports to ASEAN accounted for 15.2% of China's total foreign trade.
APEC is the highest-level, most extensive and most influential economic cooperation mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region.
As an important member of APEC, the cooperation plans brought by China to the APEC platform have received widespread response and been effectively implemented.
Rebecca Maria, executive director of the APEC Secretariat, said in an interview: "China is playing an important role in promoting regional economic integration and will play an even greater role in the future."
Rebecca said that China is a major trading partner of more than 140 countries and regions, and its total trade in goods ranks first in the world for five consecutive years.
China's position and role in the global value chain supply chain is obvious to all.
China's future will be even more impressive.
China firmly supports the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, is committed to expanding the network of high-standard free trade areas facing the world, and is actively promoting the process of joining the "Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement" Negotiations on the Agreement, and negotiating and signing free trade agreements with more willing trading partners.
Looking into the future, China will surely provide the world with more opportunities, inject stronger impetus into international cooperation, and promote the prosperity of regional economic integration.
The cooperation between China and ASEAN has stronger stamina and better prospects, and will surely provide new momentum for the recovery and development of the regional and world economies.
(China Discipline Inspection and Supervision News)