Seeds for growth in China-Asean shared future

Strong ties: A woman walks past a poster promoting the Asean Summit in Labuan Bajo held last month. For more than a decade now, China and Asean have enjoyed growing connectivity, deepening economic integration and robust business ties. — AFP

In 2013, President Xi Jinping announced an initiative for China to work with Asean countries for a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to build together a closer China-Asean community with a shared future. For more than a decade now, China and Asean have enjoyed growing connectivity, deepening economic integration and robust business ties.

Since 2020, Asean has surpassed the European Union to become China’s largest trading partner, marking the official formation of a new regional economic and trade cooperation pattern in which China and Asean are each other’s largest trading partners. In 2022, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect, which presented China a year-on-year trade increase of 15% with Asean.