Free trade agreement boosts China-ASEAN investment

Sharing supply chains rather than competing against each other is key to the further development of China-ASEAN trade, according to China-ASEAN Business Council Chinese Secretariat.

The establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) since January 1 has greatly contributed to the fast growth of trade and investment within the area, said Gao Hucheng, vice minister of Commerce at a press conference Monday.

The bilateral trade reached $136.5 billion in the first half of the year, up 55 percent year-on-year, and 11 percentage points higher than China's overall trade increase in the same period, Gao said.

In the first six months of the month, China imported $71.9 billion goods from ASEAN, up 64 percent year-on-year. Its export to ASEAN valued at $64.6 billion, up 45 percent. ASEAN has become the fourth largest trade partner of China after the European Union, the US, and Japan.

ASEAN investment in China amounted to $3.1 billion in the first half of the year, while Chinese firms' non-financial investment to ASEAN reached $1.2 billion, up 125.7 percent over the same period of last year, Gao noted.

The major concern of some ASEAN members is that Chinese goods such as textiles, footwear, and steel will have negative impact on their local products, said Zhang Wei, vice chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

Sharing supply chains and enlarging share in the international markets rather than competing against each other is important for both China and ASEAN, said Xu Ningning, secretary-general of the China- ASEAN Business Council Chinese Secretariat.

As end of June, bilateral investment totaled $69.4 billion. ASEAN to China investment reached nearly $60 billion.

"ASEAN surpassed China in investment because it's relatively easier for ASEAN members to invest in one integrated market than Chinese firms to invest in 10 different markets," said Xu.

By Wang Xinyuan

Source: Global Times