‘China-ASEAN Enjoy Potential to Boost World Economy’

Date: 21 July 2019 - 21:47

News ID: ۶۸۳۸۴

BANGKOK (Xinhua) - Trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has great potential in growth to boost world economy, which faces challenges and uncertainties, said Wichai Kinchong Choi, senior vice president of Thailand's Kasikorn Bank.
ASEAN became China's second-largest trading partner in the first half of 2019, overtaking the United States for the first time since 1997.
China's customs data showed that China's trade with ASEAN rose 10.5 percent to 1.98 trillion yuan ($288 billion) in the first half of this year, as China's trade with the U.S. dropped 9 percent to 1.75 trillion yuan ($254 billion).
In a recent interview with Xinhua, Wichai said "since the 10 member states of ASEAN have abundant natural resources and a total population of some 700 million, the potential of trade and economic cooperation here is so huge."
"As neighbors, ASEAN and China have kept close relations and ASEAN market has become more and more important to China and vice versa," the senior vice president said.
He strongly believed that China as the second largest economy in the world and ASEAN, an emerging market of great potential, could cooperate closely to become a main driving force of the sustainable growth of world economy.
For the trade between China and his home country Thailand, Wichai is very positive as well.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand, trade between Thailand and China kept growing since 1998.
In 1998, Thailand exported goods of $1.766 billion to China, while importing goods of $1.801 billion from China.