Ge Hongliang: China ASEAN Free Trade Port cooperation has broad prospects

During the Boao Forum for Asia 2026 Annual Conference held last week, Singapore Prime Minister Wong Sun chai stated that Singapore is willing to deepen cooperation with China in various fields, including the construction of free trade ports. He believes that Singapore and China can take this opportunity to further strengthen the connection between the two free trade ports, enhance their respective roles as regional gateways, and further narrow the distance between China and Southeast Asian countries.

Indeed, Singapore has been renowned for its free trade ports since the late 1960s. However, from the perspective of Southeast Asia, the development of free trade ports is currently gaining momentum, and strengthening cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in free trade ports has practical and strategic value in the current regional and international situation.

Understanding the connotation and main characteristics of free trade ports is the foundation for exploring the practical and strategic value of China ASEAN free trade port cooperation. From a definition perspective, a free trade port is the abbreviation for a free trade port, which refers to a specific area located within a country or region, outside of customs management checkpoints, allowing foreign goods, funds, and personnel to freely enter and exit, exempting all or most of the goods entering and leaving the port from tariffs, and allowing free storage, exhibition, processing, manufacturing, and other business activities of goods to be carried out within the port. From the perspective of characteristics, the establishment and development of free trade ports require highly open trade policies, relaxed investment environment, special regulatory models, and supporting service systems. As a product and driving force of globalization, the policy of free trade ports is not only an important symbol of a country's openness to the outside world, but also an important platform and window for a country and region to integrate into the global economic system.

During the 2026 Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, Hainan Free Trade Port officially welcomed a 100 day lockdown. In the past 100 days, Hainan Free Trade Port has demonstrated China's further expansion of opening-up to the outside world with tangible achievements. According to relevant data, since the self closing of the country, there have been 7503 newly registered foreign trade enterprises, a year-on-year increase of 65.7%; 737 new foreign-funded enterprises were added, a year-on-year increase of over 30%; The import and export volume of foreign trade exceeded 80 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.9%. The good development momentum of Hainan Free Trade Port may be the fundamental reason why Singapore wants to cooperate with China. This also indirectly reflects the enormous potential for China and ASEAN countries to carry out cooperation related to free trade ports.

Nowadays, the policies of free trade ports and free trade zones in China and ASEAN countries are gaining momentum. In addition to the Hainan Free Trade Port, China has established 22 pilot free trade zones during the 14th Five Year Plan period, forming a comprehensive opening-up pattern along the coast, border, and inland areas; In Southeast Asia, in addition to the Singapore Free Trade Port, many ASEAN countries have also established similar special zones or free trade zones, such as Malaysia's Johor Bahru Economic Zone and Indonesia's Batam Free Trade Zone. It cannot be denied that there may be some degree of business competition between free trade ports, especially between adjacent free trade ports within the region. But at the same time, we should also recognize that the free trade zones between China and ASEAN countries have their own focuses. For example, Hainan Free Trade Port focuses on industries such as processing trade, cross-border e-commerce, and biomedicine, while Singapore excels in finance, services, and other fields. The Johor Bahru Special Economic Zone focuses on absorbing Singapore's spillover industries, while the Batam Free Trade Zone focuses on industries such as electronics, electronics, shipping, and data. It can be seen that there is great complementarity in the cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in free trade ports and free trade zones. In the era of China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0, the establishment of free trade ports and cooperation networks within the region is of positive significance for the development of China and ASEAN countries.

More importantly, the current international environment is increasingly characterized by uncertainty and instability. Against the backdrop of severe challenges facing the international system and intensified global economic risks due to geopolitical games, the strategic value of China ASEAN Free Trade Port cooperation has become more prominent. Firstly, cooperation in free trade ports will demonstrate the determination of China and ASEAN countries to explore flexible and pragmatic cooperation models and strengthen multilateralism. The establishment of a free trade port network will effectively bring China closer to ASEAN countries and provide greater impetus for building a China ASEAN community with a shared future. Secondly, free trade ports are a symbol of rule making and standard guidance. The Hainan Free Trade Port carries the mission of China to explore and promote institutional openness towards ASEAN countries. Therefore, the cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in the free trade port will provide a new platform for cooperation in trade facilitation, investment facilitation, intellectual property protection, data flow, and other aspects, and contribute new strength to building and maintaining a fair, just, open, inclusive, and win-win international economic order.

Perhaps there will soon be an opportunity for China ASEAN Free Trade Port cooperation. As the rotating chair of ASEAN in 2027, Singapore plans to promote the deepening of cooperation between ASEAN and China in upgrading the Free Trade Area, and further promote the process of regional integration. The understanding that 'Hainan Free Trade Port reflects China's determination to expand opening up' is bound to promote new steps in cooperation between ASEAN countries and China on free trade ports. (The author is a researcher at the ASEAN Research Center of Guangxi University for Nationalities)