Depth report

　　

In the 31 years since the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN, bilateral trade has increased year by year and maintained strong growth from beginning to end. Even in the three years since the COVID-19 outbreak, trade has bucked the trend. The year 2022 is an ordinary yet extraordinary year. It is the first year of China-Asean Comprehensive strategic Partnership, the year when the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) took effect, and a new high in China-Asean trade volume.

Thanks to good winds, bilateral trade has grown strongly

In the three years since the COVID-19 epidemic, China-Asean trade has defied the odds and delivered the following remarkable results: In 2020, two-way trade reached US $684.6 billion (about 4.74 trillion yuan). In 2021, two-way trade in goods reached US $878.2 billion (about 5.67 trillion yuan). 2022 will be a bumper year for China-Asean trade, bucking the trend.

In 2022, the import and export volume between China and ASEAN reached 6.52 trillion yuan

According to the General Administration of Customs of China, in 2022, the import and export volume between China and ASEAN reached 6.52 trillion yuan, an increase of 15 percent. The export volume increased by 21.7 percent to 3.79 trillion yuan, and the import volume increased by 6.8 percent to 2.73 trillion yuan. In the same period, ASEAN's share in China's foreign trade increased by 1 percentage point from 2021 to 15.5%, maintaining its position as China's largest trading partner.

We can see that this achievement is outstanding in the foreign trade of both China and ASEAN, and also among the best among China's major trading partners.

Of course, the trade cooperation between China and ASEAN is also supported by multiple positive factors, but it is worth mentioning that the trade creation effect brought by the RCEP's entry into force has promoted closer industrial chain cooperation and further boosted the rapid growth of trade between China and ASEAN.

Lyu Daliang, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs, said that since the implementation of the RCEP one year ago, the benefits of the policy have been continuously released, which has facilitated closer economic and trade exchanges among countries in the region. Asean is an important trading partner of China in the RCEP. In 2022, China's imports and exports to ASEAN accounted for 50.3 percent of China's imports and exports to other RCEP members. Intermediate goods imported and exported from China to ASEAN reached 4.36 trillion yuan, up by 16.2%, accounting for 67% of the total value of imports and exports between China and ASEAN.

By combining the resources and market advantages of China and ASEAN with the capital and technological advantages of other RCEP members, the trade between China and ASEAN has once again entered the "fast track", showing strong resilience.

Infrastructure connectivity brings fruity trade

From Cambodian rice to Thai perfumed coconut, to Vietnamese passion fruit, durian... More and more agricultural products from ASEAN countries are continuously entering the Chinese market and becoming "regular customers" on the dining tables of Chinese consumers. In recent years, China has deepened cooperation with ASEAN countries on agricultural products, promoted the expansion of imports, and promoted the prosperity and development of bilateral trade.

At the Friendship Pass in Pingxiang city, Guangxi Province, on the China-Vietnam border, traffic is heavy with inbound and outbound vehicles carrying fruits imported from ASEAN. A batch of durian from Vietnam, weighing 18.24 tons and worth 512,400 yuan, arrived at Youyi Pass Port on Sept 19, 2022. The friendly Customs officers checked the relevant certificates and marks, and passed the inspection and quarantine. This is the first batch of fresh durian exported from Vietnam to China.

Since 2022, Vietnamese passion fruit and durian have been approved to enter the Chinese market. "This is good news for Vietnam, which has rich fruit resources." It is hoped that more Vietnamese agricultural products will be exported to China in the future, so as to give full play to the resource complementarities of the two countries and make full use of the RCEP to push forward bilateral trade relations, said Do Thi Siu, a lecturer at the Vietnamese Banking Institute.

In recent years, China has accelerated the pace of imports of agricultural products from ASEAN countries and continued to optimize quarantine access procedures for agricultural products and other key products. In addition to durian from Vietnam, many agricultural products, such as corn from Myanmar, longan from Cambodia and pineapple from Indonesia, have also been granted new quarantine access by China, constantly enriching the "fruit basket" of Chinese families. In 2022, China imported 246.86 billion yuan of agricultural products from ASEAN, up 21.3%, accounting for 15.7% of China's agricultural imports in the same period, an increase of 1.4 percentage points over the previous year.

The frequent trade between China and ASEAN cannot be separated from the connectivity of their facilities. With the development of major projects such as the new land-sea Corridor in the western region and the China-Laos Railway, the cold chain, cold storage and other supporting infrastructure in the region has been continuously improved, and the passage of goods in and out of China and ASEAN has become more convenient. Various modes of transport have developed in a coordinated way, among which railway transport is growing rapidly. Lu Daliang pointed out that in 2022, China's imports and exports to ASEAN by rail, water and air transport increased by 197.6 percent, 26.7 percent and 15.5 percent respectively.

In particular, the completion and opening to traffic of the China-Laos Railway by the end of 2021 will provide fresh impetus for further deepening economic and trade cooperation between China and relevant countries. In 2022, the proportion of freight transported by rail between China and ASEAN jumped to 44.7 percent, contributing more than 60 percent to the growth of imports and exports by rail between China and ASEAN.

"Since the China-Laos railway was opened to traffic, the types of import and export commodities operated by our company have increased, and the radiation ability of import and export destinations has become stronger and stronger, and the market competitiveness of our company has been significantly improved." Xishuangbanna Zhenrong International Logistics Co., LTD., said Zhang Xianzhou.

If you climb high and look far, trade cooperation will have lasting strength

Look back at China-Asean trade exchanges in 2022. Busy ports in the Beibu Gulf, trains full of cargo, fresh fruits from ASEAN countries on the dining table... All this is a sign of the fruits of bilateral trade. Looking ahead to 2023, what new expectations and new directions will China and ASEAN have in the field of trade?

With the booming global digital economy, digital trade has gradually become an important component of international trade and a key growth driver. Under the background of the strong growth momentum of China-Asean trade scale, the demands of various countries for the digital transformation of trade are constantly evolving, and the cooperation potential of digital economy represented by digital trade is huge. China and ASEAN countries urgently need to unleash the development potential of digital trade. We may plan ahead and build a solid digital base, and encourage the innovative development of emerging business forms to facilitate the rapid development of digital trade.

In addition, China and ASEAN need to jointly implement the RCEP agreement with high quality, advance the building of version 3.0 of the China-Asean Free Trade Area, jointly build new international land and maritime trade routes, promote more quality products from both sides, expand the converging interests of the two sides, and build a closer China-Asean community of shared future. At the same time, the China-Asean Expo (hereinafter referred to as the East Expo) will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2023. Under this opportunity, both sides should jointly seize the opportunity of the 20th East Expo and seek more business opportunities.

Lu Daliang said that looking into the future, China and ASEAN have broad areas of cooperation, integrated development strategies and smooth trade exchanges. Driven by the continuous improvement of bilateral trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, bilateral trade is expected to achieve new and greater development.

Step on the peak of the new day. With the booming trade between China and ASEAN, bilateral trade cooperation will show more momentum and enjoy broader prospects in the future, showing new driving forces in this new development pattern.