Business leaders from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are looking to further strengthen their cooperation and take the business opportunities brought by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement.
They made the remark in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, during the ongoing 19th China-ASEAN Expo, which is themed on sharing new opportunities from the RCEP agreement and jointly advancing version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.
The expo, which opened on Sept 16 and runs through Sept 19, is expected to help reinforce cooperation on the two sides' industrial and supply chains and enhance overall regional competitiveness, they said.
China COSCO Shipping Corp, the country's largest shipping company by sales revenue, said that it has seen continuous growth in trade volume with ASEAN since the RCEP agreement took effect on Jan 1.
"Shipping is a barometer of trade worldwide. The trade growth between China and ASEAN has been a highlight for us in a time when the global marine supply chain is greatly challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Ge Heyue, deputy general manager of COSCO Shipping Lines Co.
"We have invested huge resources in Southeast Asia. We are firmly confident in the trade growth potential between China and ASEAN against the global economic slowdown," he said.
China has been ASEAN's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years, and ASEAN became China's top trading partner in 2020, surpassing the European Union, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
From January to August, the trade volume between China and ASEAN reached $627.6 billion, up 13.3 percent year-on-year, while trade between China and other RCEP members grew 7.5 percent on a yearly basis, according to the General Administration of Customs.
Li Muyuan, secretary-general of the Beijing-based China Container Industry Association, has participated in the China-ASEAN Expo multiple times. She said that she has a strong feeling this year that delegates from ASEAN member states are exceptionally enthusiastic and confident in the business potential brought by the RCEP.
