Boosting the China ASEAN Free Trade Area Version 3.0 is the focus of the 19th China ASEAN Expo that has just come to an end. In an interview with reporters, many experts said that the construction of China ASEAN Free Trade Area Version 3.0 will promote and interact with RCEP, injecting new impetus into China ASEAN economic and trade cooperation.
In 2002, the construction of China ASEAN Free Trade Area was officially launched. In 2010, the China ASEAN Free Trade Area was fully completed, and an upgraded version 2.0 was launched in 2019. Zero tariff has covered more than 90% of the tariff products of both sides. In November 2021, at the summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China ASEAN dialogue relations, China proposed that "we should fully play the role of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and start the construction of China ASEAN Free Trade Area Version 3.0".
Zhang Jianping, director of the regional economic cooperation research center of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, said that ASEAN has grown into China's largest trading partner. ASEAN is a key area for high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road". China and ASEAN have carried out large-scale international production capacity cooperation and infrastructure connectivity. Focusing on future development, China and ASEAN are implementing RCEP to create an integrated market. Under this framework, China and ASEAN are two core markets, so the economic and trade relations between China and ASEAN need to be further deepened. As the institutional cooperation between China and ASEAN, the FTA also needs to keep pace with the times, keep pace with the pace and process of the development of other free trade agreements in China, and correspondingly supplement and update relevant provisions to meet the needs of higher level economic and trade development of both sides.
"More than a decade after its completion in all respects, the China ASEAN Free Trade Area has promoted the leapfrog development of bilateral economic and trade relations, effectively promoted the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment in the region, and entered a golden era of economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN." Zhang Xiaotao, dean of the School of International Economics and Trade of the Central University of Finance and Economics and doctoral supervisor, said that the China ASEAN Free Trade Area has become one of the most mature and fruitful free trade arrangements in Asia. Southeast Asia is the most important region for China to promote the development of multi-level regional economic integration. ASEAN member countries have become an important link in reshaping the value chain in the region because of their advantages in labor, natural resources, manufacturing and other aspects. China and ASEAN have formed a close international production network and division of labor, with huge development potential and full resilience. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, China ASEAN import and export trade has grown against the trend, which fully reflects the strong resilience of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area for China ASEAN economic and trade relations.
China has maintained ASEAN's largest trading partner status for 13 consecutive years, and ASEAN's status as China's largest trading partner has also been further consolidated. The data shows that from January to July this year, the trade volume between China and ASEAN reached 544.9 billion US dollars, up 13.1% year on year, accounting for 15% of China's total foreign trade imports and exports. Investment cooperation between China and ASEAN is also deepening. As of the end of July this year, the cumulative two-way investment between China and ASEAN has exceeded 340 billion US dollars.
In Zhang Jianping's view, the construction of China ASEAN Free Trade Area Version 3.0 will promote higher level trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, the scale of trade and investment between the two sides will continue to increase, the global supply chain and value chain cooperation will also become closer, and the economic and social between China and ASEAN will continue to move towards sustainable development.
Zhang Xiaotao said that with the launch of the construction of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) version 3.0, the two sides will strengthen cooperation in the fields of digital connectivity and green low-carbon circular economy in the future, promote scientific and technological innovation cooperation, stimulate new development momentum in the region, and promote the deep integration of industrial chain, supply chain, and value chain.
China and the 10 ASEAN countries are important members of the RCEP region. How will the Version 3.0 Free Trade Area and RCEP form a superposition effect to jointly promote regional economic growth?
Zhang Xiaotao said that after the signing of RCEP, China and Japan established direct free trade zone relations for the first time. RCEP and China ASEAN Free Trade Area can be promoted in parallel. ASEAN is at the center of RCEP. All parties deepen economic and trade cooperation to promote the prosperity and development of regional economy. The advantages of China ASEAN Free Trade Area can be doubled through RCEP.
Li Shize, director of the Regional Economic Research Division of the Development Research Center of the Guangxi People's Government, said that the cooperation between the China ASEAN Free Trade Area (Version 3.0) and RCEP is mutually reinforcing and interactive, and to promote the China ASEAN Free Trade Area (Version 3.0), we must seize the new opportunities of RCEP. On the one hand, we should actively promote the implementation of RCEP rules in the China ASEAN Free Trade Area and accelerate the release of policy dividends. On the other hand, under the framework of RCEP, we should promote the construction of China ASEAN Free Trade Area to upgrade on the existing basis, improve the level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, expand cooperation in new areas such as digital economy and green economy, and jointly build demonstration parks for economic and trade innovation and development.
"Version 3.0 of the China ASEAN Free Trade Agreement should be based on the relevant rules and contents of RCEP, and try to add some higher standards, more free and convenient arrangements that are acceptable to both sides, so that the China ASEAN Free Trade Agreement can do better than RCEP in some areas, so as to play a leading and exemplary role in implementing RCEP." Zhang Jianping believes that building the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 requires China and ASEAN to constantly strengthen policy dialogue and communication, strengthen the connection between strategy and planning, and promote mutual trust between the two sides. At the same time, we should benchmark higher standard agreements such as CPTPP and DEPA to promote the construction of more inclusive, modern, comprehensive and mutually beneficial free trade agreements.