Upgrading the Quality of Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and ASEAN

China has maintained its position as the largest trading partner of ASEAN for 16 consecutive years; ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for five consecutive years; In the first 11 months of last year, China's imports and exports to ASEAN reached 6.82 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%... Faced with the complex and ever-changing global situation, China ASEAN economic and trade cooperation has risen against the trend and steadily progressed.

On January 1st of this year, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement celebrated its fourth anniversary of implementation. Not long ago, the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol was officially signed, becoming an important milestone in bilateral cooperation, marking the expansion of the economic integration process from traditional trade and investment liberalization and facilitation to emerging fields such as digital, green, and standards. The China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 version will effectively promote regional digital technology empowerment, green industry cooperation, interconnection of industrial and supply chains, and standard regulation docking, and accelerate the integration and development of large markets and industrial and supply chains in the region. China and ASEAN countries are continuously strengthening institutional innovation and pragmatic cooperation, leading the construction of the Asia Pacific Free Trade Area with practical actions, and contributing to regional economic and trade cooperation and world prosperity and development.

Consolidate the foundation for sharing digital dividends

In Malaysia, high-level data center clusters constructed by Chinese enterprises have emerged; In Indonesia, cloud computing projects involving Chinese enterprises empower regional computing power upgrades... China ASEAN digital infrastructure cooperation projects are accelerating their layout, and digital economic cooperation across mountains and seas, connecting each other, is steadily advancing.

"China and ASEAN have more than 2 billion people and about 1.5 billion Internet users, with rich digital application scenarios and broad market space." Tong Meng David, deputy director of the China ASEAN Research Center of Cambodia Cambodia University of Technology, said that the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 has achieved a breakthrough upgrade in the field of digital economy, combining the "hard connectivity" of digital infrastructure with the "soft connectivity" of rules and standards, and paving a predictable and sustainable institutional path for regional digital economic cooperation through institutional arrangements for the flow of data elements.

The synergy of "software and hardware connectivity" helps accelerate and increase efficiency in cross-border trade. The latest report from the Malaysian E-commerce Association shows that trade facilitation measures have attracted more agricultural products to enter China through digital platforms, and have driven the overall upgrading of local industrial chains and brand building. Driven by digital technology, the cross-border e-commerce transaction volume between China and ASEAN has maintained a high-speed growth of over 20% year after year, becoming an important engine for the development of bilateral trade. Malaysian durian farmer Royaz from Penang has a deep understanding of this: "The intelligent customs clearance system enables' cloud processing 'of logistics, delivery and other links, and fresh fruits can be delivered to the Chinese market in as fast as 48 hours

Digital empowerment also deeply penetrates the core links of the manufacturing industry. In the Midea Overseas "Lighthouse Factory" in Chumphon Province, Thailand, robotic arms are skillfully waved and intelligent logistics vehicles shuttle in an orderly manner. Thanks to the deep integration of digital technology standards between China and Thailand, cross-border collaborative manufacturing has become smoother, "said Li Peng, the factory manager. With the support of digital technologies such as 5G, the factory's production efficiency has increased by about 20%, and an average of one air conditioner is assembled and produced every 6 seconds.

ASEAN Secretary General Gao Jinhong stated that China's technological accumulation in areas such as 5G, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence is highly aligned with the industrial upgrading needs of ASEAN countries. The China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 version will transform this technological potential into strong momentum for regional development through rule coordination and capacity building, providing a solid guarantee for both sides to share the digital dividend.

Provide support for green transformation and development

In the mountainous areas of northern Laos, deep blue photovoltaic modules stretch out along the mountain terrain. As the first large-scale photovoltaic project in Laos invested and constructed by China General Nuclear Power Group, the base is actively building a clean energy system that integrates wind power, photovoltaics, and biomass energy. After the completion of the first phase of the 1000 MW photovoltaic project, it is expected to generate an average annual power output of about 1.7 billion kilowatt hours, reducing standard coal consumption by about 510000 tons and carbon dioxide emissions by about 1.4 million tons annually, effectively promoting the green transformation of the local energy structure.

From clean energy to green manufacturing, from environmental protection equipment to energy-saving technologies, China's green development experience provides economically feasible solutions for ASEAN countries to explore sustainable development paths. Tu Xinquan, Dean of the China World Trade Organization Research Institute at the University of International Business and Economics, stated that the planning and design of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 in the field of green economy will help to more effectively share the dividends of China's green development with ASEAN, and promote regional green cooperation from "single point demonstration" to a "systematic layout" covering green trade, green finance, and circular economy.

Green finance introduces "fresh water" as the source of industrial transformation in the ASEAN region. Chinese financial institutions continue to increase their credit allocation for green and sustainable development projects in the ASEAN region, and innovatively launch diversified financial products such as green trade financing and green working capital loans. From 2021 to 2025, Bank of China Singapore Branch has underwritten a total of 68 sustainable development bonds, with a total amount equivalent to approximately RMB 191 billion, providing financial support for regional green transformation and building a virtuous ecosystem of "industry finance integration".

China actively promotes the implementation of circular economy in ASEAN. In Cambodia's "Industrial Development Corridor", Chinese enterprises participate in the construction of green industrial parks and achieve emission reduction and efficiency improvement through circular economy models; In the "Fish and Rice Corridor", ecological agriculture technology helps the local area achieve the resource utilization of agricultural waste and the ecological cycle of planting and breeding. Tong Meng Dawei stated that the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol has made special policy arrangements around the differences in rules and market access in green cooperation, which is equivalent to "loosening barriers" for the cross-border promotion and application of green products and technologies, and providing institutional support for Cambodia, China, and other ASEAN countries to jointly address climate change and achieve green transformation.

Injecting momentum into regional economic cooperation

Since the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement four years ago, the deep integration of the regional supply chain system has been promoted through tariff reductions and rule matching. The entry into force of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 version will form a policy synergy effect with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, helping both sides move from a "trading partner" mainly engaged in goods trade to a "community of shared future" deeply embedded in the industrial chain and value chain.

Tang Longgong Wu Sentilangu, president of the the Belt and Road Economic and Educational Development Research Institute in Thailand, believes that the China ASEAN Free Trade Area version 3.0 rules can effectively reduce the compliance costs of enterprises by introducing strong chain mechanisms such as mutual recognition of standards and conformity assessment, so that they can focus more on local R&D and production, and create a more stable and predictable environment for cross-border layout of emerging industries such as new energy vehicles.

In Rayong Province, Thailand, Changan Automobile's first overseas new energy vehicle base is operating at full speed. The production capacity of 100000 vehicles in the first phase has been successfully achieved, and the cumulative sales of star models have exceeded 10000 units, ranking first in Thailand's electric SUV sales for two consecutive months. From building factories overseas to building cross-border "chains", Changan Automobile has led 9 Chinese enterprises on the chain to collaborate and layout, and has established deep cooperation with 35 Thai suppliers. We will focus on localizing the core 'three electric' system of new energy vehicles, and currently batteries have been produced locally, "said Cai Hongwei, General Manager of Changan Automobile's Thailand Rayong factory. The base is accelerating the upgrade to an industrial platform that integrates manufacturing, collaboration, and capacity output, helping the ASEAN automotive industry chain climb towards high value-added links such as electrification and intelligence.

With the continuous improvement of regional supply chain connectivity, the dividends of China's super large market are constantly being released to ASEAN countries. In the first 10 months of 2025, the trade volume of agricultural and food products between China and ASEAN reached 51.3 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 8.9%. By December 2025, China Laos railway has transported more than 72.5 million tons of goods in total, and high-quality agricultural products such as Cambodian mango, Laos coffee, Vietnamese aquatic products have accelerated to enter the Chinese market through this "golden channel", so that the policy is favorable and people along the line can actually enjoy the development achievements.

This year marks the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and ASEAN. With the implementation of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0, bilateral cooperation has reached a new historical starting point. Tang Longgong Wushenti Langgu stated that the 3.0 version of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area will inject more resilient momentum into the comprehensive strategic partnership between ASEAN and China, and help build a peaceful, stable, shared prosperity, and vibrant ASEAN China community with a shared future.

Gao Jinhong stated that ASEAN and China have established one of the most substantial and dynamic partnerships in the region, and their economic and trade cooperation continues to deepen. Through continuous dialogue, shared vision, and collective efforts, ASEAN and China will bring stability, security, and new development opportunities to the region, truly transforming the common vision into tangible results that benefit the people.