China and ASEAN leaders meet in Kuala Lumpur to jointly write a new chapter of regional integration. At the centre is the planned upgrade of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA). Later this year, the two sides will sign the CAFTA 3.0 Upgrade Protocol to accelerate economic integration and strengthen global trade.
Since its launch in 2010, CAFTA has become an engine of economic cooperation between China and ASEAN countries, bringing stability, growth and tangible benefits to millions of people. President Xi Jinping ji označil za "the most successful model of cooperation in Asia and the Pacific" and an example of building "a community with a shared future for humanity".
China and ASEAN are the largest trading partners for the fifth consecutive year. Prime Minister Li Qiang na summitu RCEP in Kuala Lumpur, said China continues to support the central role of ASEAN and will work with all partners to safeguard the stability of the regional trading system.
Economic expansion without borders
Trade between China and ASEAN countries has exploded over the past 30 years from less than $8 billion in 1991 to nearly one trillion dollars in 2024. In the first three quarters of this year alone, trade reached 5.57 trillion yuan (about $785 billion), an increase of 9.6 %.
In the Chinese market, we increasingly see products from ASEAN, such as Cambodian rice, Thai latex pillows or Laotian beer, while Chinese products - for example electric vehicles, machinery and electronics - are finding their way to Southeast Asia.
Major projects that are changing the region include Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway a China-Laos Railwaythat significantly improve connectivity and reduce logistics costs.
Li Qiang stressed that openness and cooperation are key values that need to be preserved at all times.
New horizons for integration
The region is now strengthening cooperation in the area of digital and green transformation, infrastructure and people-to-people exchanges. New technologies such as Artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and clean energy, opening up space for even closer links.
V Vietnamu Chinese agricultural drones help farmers spray their fields. V Thajsku China's electric and autonomous trucks are making port workers' jobs more efficient. And in Indonésii se díky projektu Cirata floating solar power plant increases the production of renewable energy.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, CAFTA 3.0 will bring nine new chapterswhich will focus on the digital economy, green transformation and connecting supply chains. These measures are intended to promote deeper economic integration in the region and strengthen the integration of the Chinese and ASEAN industrial sectors.
Li Qiang urged all countries to continue to resolve differences through dialogue, reject protectionism and promote free trade - only in this way, he believes, can Asia continue its economic miracle story.
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