China-Asean trade can further enhance relationship
China-Asean trade can further enhance relationship
Nanning, China: While China has become Asean's biggest trade partner and Asean is China's third largest trade partner, fourth largest export destination and second largest source of imports, more improvement is possible to enhance the relationship.
In the ten Asean member states, the countries with the most exports to China are Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore, while the largest importing countries are Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
These statistics were revealed to participants attending the Economic and Trade Seminar for Asean Journalists 2016 in Nanning, China.
Last year, China's investment to the seven major economies of Asean, EU, Australia, the United States, Russia and Japan, reached US$86.85 billion, accounting for 73.6 percent of the total over that period. The fastest growing investment was in Asean, recording year to year growth of 60.7 percent.
China is ready to work with Asean to advance the negotiations of regional comprehensive economic partnership and promote regional economic integration. According to China-Asean Economic and Trade Cooperation Committee, further international cooperation in production capacity was possible to achieve higher levels of mutual benefit.
The seminar explained that China stood ready to conduct production capacity cooperation with Asean in more areas, such as electricity, engineering machinery, construction materials and telecommunications, using trade zones and other industrial parks as an important platforms for bilateral production capacity cooperation to attract Chinese enterprises to invest in Asean in groups.
The regional supply chain, industrial chain and value chain will be improved to enhance the industrial competitiveness of China and Asean in the world.
Finance cooperation should be strengthened, making full use of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund so that finance can play a vitally supportive role in infrastructure construction and production capacity cooperation.
Relying on the cooperation committee of China-Asean connectivity and the meeting of China-Asean transportation ministers, China is willing to work the Asean to facilitate construction of new land links between China and the Indo-China Peninsula. China is willing to work with Asean to build an information port so as to use an information network with good connectivity to boost cooperation in various areas.
China-Asean economic and trade cooperation has agreed to cooperate in more than 10 areas of agriculture, fisheries, forestry, industry, information technology, tourism, transportation, intellectual property, human resources development, small and medium enterprises and the environment.
Trade volume between Lao-China has increased since 2010 and now stands at US$ 3.6 billion.
Chinese investments in Laos were worth US$6 billion in 2015, and the country ranks first among foreign investors in Laos. China has given assistance to Laos in the form of grants and loans valued at around US$5 billion.
Chinese cooperation and assistance projects include the Huayxai and Pakbaeng Mekhong bridges, Luang Prabang International Airport, National Stadium, National Convention Centre, the Party Centre Committee Office building, irrigation systems, hydropower plants and roads.
