ASEAN, China upgrade FTA in Kuala Lumpur

Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim were present at the signing ceremony.

The agreement includes sections on digital economy; green economy; standards; supply chain interconnectivity; competition and consumer protection; and micro, small and medium enterprises; and other new industries.

ASEAN is China's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade totalling $771 billion last year.

The upgrade is being widely perceived by global news outlets as China’s move to counter unreasonable high import tariffs imposed by the US administration on countries around the world.

The upgraded agreement "fully reflects the solemn commitment of the two sides to jointly support multilateralism and free trade", China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

Talks on the so-called version 3.0 of the deal started in November 2022 and concluded in May this year. The FTA came into force in 2010. The version 2.0 of the protocol was signed in 2015 and came into effect in 2019.

Li told an ASEAN-China summit meeting after the signing that closer cooperation could help overcome global economic uncertainties. He said “pursuing confrontation instead of solidarity brings no benefit” in the face of economic coercion and bullying.

Following the signing, China and ASEAN member states will proceed with their respective domestic approval procedures to ensure the protocol enters into force at the earliest possible.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)