China, ASEAN to strengthen economic and trade ties

The China-ASEAN Business Council has held its annual China-ASEAN New Year Party in Beijing. About 300 people, including ambassadors and diplomats, businessmen and representatives of Chinese communities attended the reception. The event aims to help deepening economic links between China and ASEAN. Our reporter Su Yuting attended the reception and spoke to business delegates and government officials about their economic and trade ties.

Celebrating closer ties and seeking further cooperation. Ambassadors and representatives from China and ASEAN countries proposed a toast and wishes for the New Year.

The achievement of sustainable development of ties has a tremendous effect not only at a national level but also regionally.

"ASEAN is Hunan's third largest trading partner and second largest export market. The main commodities exported to ASEAN include chemical products, engineering machinery, and the main ones to be imported are coal, electronics and raw materials. Hunan has established Hunan Industry Parks in Thailand and Laos, and a Hunan Commercial and Trading Logistics Park in Vietnam." He Baoxiang, vice governor of Hunan province, said.

The reception also provides a platform for enterprises to learn about market demands, seek and discuss opportunities for investment and cooperation.

An awards ceremony was also held to highlight successful ASEAN enterprises entering China and outstanding Chinese enterprises entering ASEAN.

"Government-level exchanges have greatly helped push forward communications between enterprises from China and ASEAN. For instance, when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited ASEAN countries, he introduced China's high speed railway. We think domestic companies can ensure their quality to better promote the image of home-made brands." Xie Feng, CEO of Sany's Asia-Pacific Region, said.

Many say, for the next decade, one key issue is to establish an upgraded version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

"We aim to expand bilateral trade volume to 1 trillion US dollars by 2020, and increase bilateral investment by 150 billion US dollars over the next eight years. China is willing to join hands with ASEAN to advance talks on several agreements to boost mutual connectivity. We need to speed up cooperation in boosting mutual connectivity in areas such as transport, infrastructure projects, telecommunications and energy." Xu Ningning, Executive president of China-Asean Business Council, said.

Reproter: "China makes ASEAN its priority for outbound investment, and also welcomes enterprises from ASEAN countries to do businesses in China. Both sides are willing to boost economic and trade ties and create a "diamond decade" of cooperation in the future."