China-ASEAN trade negotiations underway

Agreement will further simplify trading between two sides

Negotiations on deeper trade and investment cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are underway allowing for a further simplification of trade between the two sides, an official at the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Tuesday.

Trade volume between China and ASEAN reached $220.69 billion in the first half of the year, with a 4.8 percent year-on-year growth, Chen Zhou, director of the Department of Asian Affairs under the MOFCOM, told a press conference in Beijing.

Over the past 10 years, trade between China and ASEAN has increased five-fold, hitting more than $400 billion in 2013, and the figure is expected to reach $1 trillion in 2020, according to Wang Jinzhen, vice chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

In the next five years, China will import products worth more than $10 trillion and make $500 billion of foreign direct investment, which indicates neighboring countries, especially the ASEAN members, will benefit from China's development, said Chen.

China is the largest trading partner of ASEAN and ASEAN has emerged as China's third-largest partner, a major investment destination and an important tourist destination.

Investment between China and ASEAN hit $120 billion at the end of June this year, with $80 billion from ASEAN and $40 billion from China, the MOFCOM official said.

Among the ASEAN member countries, Singapore has continued to lead in investing in China with $7.2 billion in investment in 2013, while Malaysia became the first among ASEAN members to handle more than $100 billion in trade with China in 2013, as well as the third Asian country to have more than $100 billion in trade with China annually, after Japan and South Korea, according to Chen.

In addition to expectations for closer trade and investment ties, Chen stressed China supports ASEAN assuming a dominant role in East Asia cooperation.

He added the nation particularly supports the ongoing Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations between ASEAN members and six other countries including China.

The RCEP negotiations are set to be completed in 2015.

The annual China-ASEAN Expo and the annual China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit is also scheduled to be held between September 16 and September 19 in Nanning, capital of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

In recent years, many products from ASEAN entered the Chinese market through the expo and China will encourage the trend by setting up an import trade pilot zone in Guangxi, Zhang Xiaoqin, vice chairman of Guangxi, said at the conference.