KUALA LUMPUR (Dispatches) - China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Tuesday formally signed an enhanced trade deal, as both sides seek to boost ties amid global uncertainties and trade tensions with the United States.
It’s the second upgrade of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) that was first inked in 2002 - making it then China’s first free trade agreement and ASEAN’s first with a major external partner. It then came into effect in 2010, with negotiations for the first upgrade starting in September 2014 and coming into force in 2019.
The pact, built on a first free trade deal with China in 2010, was inked on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN Summit in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday as trade between Beijing and the 11-member regional bloc continues to rise amid US President Donald Trump’s much-maligned trade war.
The “3.0 version” of the deal will broaden collaboration on “infrastructure, digital and green transition, trade facilitation and people-to-people exchanges,” according to China’s State Council.
In his remarks to the ASEAN summit, Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang lauded the deepening trade relationship between his country and the bloc, highlighting his expectation for “expanded and higher-quality economic cooperation” under the upgraded trade pact.
“Cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful results, trade volume continues to grow steadily, and ASEAN governments have promoted even closer people-to-people exchanges,” he said.
Li also censured Trump’s tariffs, saying the move has “seriously disrupted” global trade and marked the most protectionist policy pursued by the US government since the 1930s.
“Unilateralism and protectionism have seriously disrupted the global economic and trade order. External forces are increasingly interfering in our region, and many countries have been unfairly subjected to high tariffs,” Li said.