China and ASEAN are creating a model for the construction of a free trade area
发布日期：2025-04-02
On January 1, 2010, the China-Asean Free Trade Area was fully established. This free trade zone, which covers a population of 1.85 billion, a gross national product of 6 trillion US dollars and a trade volume of 450 million US dollars, was the world largest free trade zone established by developing countries at that time.
After the full establishment of the free trade zone, over 90% of the trade products between China and the six old member states of ASEAN (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Brunei) will be subject to zero tariffs. The four new ASEAN countries (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar) also gradually achieved zero tariffs on trade with China since 2011.
On January 1, 2010, our newspaper published an article titled "China Free Trade Zones Welcome a Zero-Tariff Year" on Page 1. Taking the full establishment of the ASEAN Free Trade Area as the entry point, the article reviewed the achievements made in the construction of China free trade zones and the situation of tariff reduction and exemption in each free trade zone. The article analyzed that China free trade zones have significantly and extensively reduced tariffs. It will bring significant business opportunities to Chinese foreign trade enterprises that have been severely affected by the financial crisis and have a huge appeal to enterprises from all sides.
In fact, before the full launch of the free trade zone, our newspaper had been presenting the entire process of its promotion and birth to readers in a weekly format in a systematic, continuous and comprehensive manner. Since then, it has also been persistently tracking and reporting on the construction of the free trade zone, and is one of the media that have provided the most complete and in-depth coverage of the free trade zone during the same period.
In the first year after the full establishment of the China-Asean Free Trade Area, remarkable implementation results were achieved, driving the rapid growth of bilateral trade between China and ASEAN. In 2010, the trade volume between China and ASEAN reached 292.776 billion US dollars, an increase of 37.5% compared with the same period in 2009. Meanwhile, the trade structure between the two sides has been continuously optimized: China exports of products such as ships, steel, knitted garments, and ceramic products to ASEAN have grown rapidly, and it imports a large amount of resource-based products such as copper products, rubber products, and cocoa products from ASEAN. Not only that, back then, gateway ports such as the Beibu Gulf in Guangxi began to expand, adding multiple shipping routes to ASEAN, manufacturing cooperation started, Chinese automakers invested and built factories in ASEAN countries, and the pilot program of cross-border settlement in RMB was extended to ASEAN countries. These achievements laid the foundation for the current "golden development period".
Up to now, the cooperation between China and ASEAN has achieved remarkable results in multiple fields. The scale of investment cooperation has expanded, the synergy effect of the industrial chain has become prominent, the service trade has grown at a high speed, and the cooperation in medical care and science and technology has continued to expand. In 2024, the bilateral trade volume between China and ASEAN reached 6.99 trillion yuan. Asean has been China largest trading partner for five consecutive years, and China has remained ASEAN largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years.
Nowadays, the China-Asean Free Trade Area is about to enter its 3.0 era. With the entry into force of the RCEP and the conclusion of the negotiations on the 3.0 version of the China-Asean Free Trade Area, the degree of market openness between China and ASEAN will be further enhanced, and cooperation between the two sides in trade, investment, digital economy and other fields will also become closer. (Source: International Business Daily)
After the full establishment of the free trade zone, over 90% of the trade products between China and the six old member states of ASEAN (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Brunei) will be subject to zero tariffs. The four new ASEAN countries (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar) also gradually achieved zero tariffs on trade with China since 2011.
On January 1, 2010, our newspaper published an article titled "China Free Trade Zones Welcome a Zero-Tariff Year" on Page 1. Taking the full establishment of the ASEAN Free Trade Area as the entry point, the article reviewed the achievements made in the construction of China free trade zones and the situation of tariff reduction and exemption in each free trade zone. The article analyzed that China free trade zones have significantly and extensively reduced tariffs. It will bring significant business opportunities to Chinese foreign trade enterprises that have been severely affected by the financial crisis and have a huge appeal to enterprises from all sides.
In fact, before the full launch of the free trade zone, our newspaper had been presenting the entire process of its promotion and birth to readers in a weekly format in a systematic, continuous and comprehensive manner. Since then, it has also been persistently tracking and reporting on the construction of the free trade zone, and is one of the media that have provided the most complete and in-depth coverage of the free trade zone during the same period.
In the first year after the full establishment of the China-Asean Free Trade Area, remarkable implementation results were achieved, driving the rapid growth of bilateral trade between China and ASEAN. In 2010, the trade volume between China and ASEAN reached 292.776 billion US dollars, an increase of 37.5% compared with the same period in 2009. Meanwhile, the trade structure between the two sides has been continuously optimized: China exports of products such as ships, steel, knitted garments, and ceramic products to ASEAN have grown rapidly, and it imports a large amount of resource-based products such as copper products, rubber products, and cocoa products from ASEAN. Not only that, back then, gateway ports such as the Beibu Gulf in Guangxi began to expand, adding multiple shipping routes to ASEAN, manufacturing cooperation started, Chinese automakers invested and built factories in ASEAN countries, and the pilot program of cross-border settlement in RMB was extended to ASEAN countries. These achievements laid the foundation for the current "golden development period".
Up to now, the cooperation between China and ASEAN has achieved remarkable results in multiple fields. The scale of investment cooperation has expanded, the synergy effect of the industrial chain has become prominent, the service trade has grown at a high speed, and the cooperation in medical care and science and technology has continued to expand. In 2024, the bilateral trade volume between China and ASEAN reached 6.99 trillion yuan. Asean has been China largest trading partner for five consecutive years, and China has remained ASEAN largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years.
Nowadays, the China-Asean Free Trade Area is about to enter its 3.0 era. With the entry into force of the RCEP and the conclusion of the negotiations on the 3.0 version of the China-Asean Free Trade Area, the degree of market openness between China and ASEAN will be further enhanced, and cooperation between the two sides in trade, investment, digital economy and other fields will also become closer. (Source: International Business Daily)
