Expanding trade and investment opportunities

ASEAN and China have a long history of cooperation. Since 1991, bilateral trade between the two parties have increased steadily. In fact, the Asean-China Free Trade Area, created in Jan 2010, was the first FTA that Asean signed with external parties.China has long been Asean’s top trading partner and in 2020, Asean surpassed the European Union to become China’s largest trading partner for the first time.

The growing ties between China and Asean continues to play out even during the pandemic. Gross exports from the Asean-5 region (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) rose to 7.2 per cent of GDP in 2021, from 4.4 per cent in 2010.

The year 2021 marked 30 years of dialogue relations between Asean and China and both parties have already taken steps to further reinforce their close ties. In November 2020, both sides signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership which kicked into effect this year. Many believe this will be a key catalyst for further flow of foreign direct investment into Asean.