Ties with ASEAN set to get broader, deeper

Cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is set to move beyond trade and investment, a Chinese official said on Monday.

Beijing will enhance connections with the region through infrastructure and industrial upgrading and services, while further promoting trade and investment, said Yao Jian, director of the general office of the Ministry of Commerce.

Yao made the remarks ahead of the 10th China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, two high-profile events that commemorate the bilateral strategic partnership.

The two sides established a giant free trade zone in 2010 incorporating 1.8 billion people, one-quarter of the world's population. The zone has accelerated the liberalization of trade and investment as well as the scale of cooperation over the past two years.

"Good relations between ASEAN and China have created a conducive environment for us to develop our economies. We are also able to tap into China as the engine of growth in the Asia-Pacific," said Lee Chian-siong, from the community affairs development directorate of the ASEAN Secretariat.

It also reinforces the message that peace and stability are essential before we talk about prosperity for our people, he noted.

The upcoming fairs, which run from Tuesday through Friday, will devote extra attention to infrastructure, services and technology, giving fresh impetus to the annual events that used to focus on trade and investment alone, Yao said.

Transport ministers will meet in a China-ASEAN connectivity conference to promote the construction of transportation in a down-to-earth manner.

According to Lee, China and Vietnam will soon start on a new cross-border bridge, a move to further boost border trade.

In the field of industrial cooperation, key projects, such as the China-Malaysia "Twin Parks in Two Countries" will be strongly promoted to set examples for China-ASEAN joint construction of outbound trade in ASEAN.

The two sides will also enhance person-to-person contact, Lee noted. In Dongxing, a city in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, a new immigration office will allow Chinese visitors to obtain visas, while ASEAN is continuing work on a single visa for all its member states.

On the financial front, more initiatives on matching banks and enterprises will be held to encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in ASEAN.

Bilateral cooperation is also being directed to the high-technology front, where a Beidou Satellite Navigation Technology forum will be organized to fuel industrial upgrading via high-end industrial cooperation.

A total of 5,554 booths have been rented for the expo this year, 20.7 percent above estimates, Yao said.

A series of trade matching events will also be held to provide customized matches, drawing on the members of 120 purchasing and investment delegations from China and abroad.

Fields involved include coffee, handicraft, rubber, food packaging machinery, building materials, engineering machinery, electronics and electrical appliances and agricultural machinery.

Bilateral trade between ASEAN and China exceeded $400 billion in 2012, up from $54.7 billion in 2003. In the first half of 2013, trade grew 12.2 percent to $210.56 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

As ASEAN's biggest trade partner, China recorded a trade surplus of $8.5 billion in 2012 in its trade with the 10-nation group. It has pledged to increase imports from ASEAN.

As of the end of June, Chinese direct investment in ASEAN totaled nearly $30 billion, and direct investment from ASEAN into China exceeded $80 billion, the ministry said.