Full speed ahead for SE Asia on the move

Shared prosperity

In a summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations in November 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for harnessing the role of the RCEP, beginning work toward a new round of upgrading of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area at an early date, and enhancing the level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

"China stands ready to work with ASEAN to grasp the overriding trend, remove interference, share opportunities and promote shared prosperity. We will implement in earnest our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and make new strides toward building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future," he said via video link.

Liang said that China and ASEAN countries are close neighbors bound by traditional friendships and a shared future. For the past year, the two sides have strengthened cooperation, which has injected a vital impetus into efforts for the post-pandemic economic recovery within the region and the world as a whole.

"As a regional economic free-trade agreement, the RCEP will gradually unleash great potential for its member states' cooperation in different areas," Liang said. "It has helped create new business and employment opportunities, strengthen supply chains in the region, and promote the participation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the regional value chains and production hubs."

Liang said that more business opportunities for RCEP member states in the next three years are expected to mushroom, covering areas such as new energy technology, artificial intelligence, green investment and financing.

Following the successful implementation of the RCEP, China and the ASEAN countries announced the launch of negotiations on the 3.0 version of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area, or ACFTA, during the East Asia Cooperation Leaders' Meeting held in Cambodia in November, opening a new chapter on regional cooperation.

Version 1.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area was established in 2010. In 2019, the upgraded version 2.0 was launched.

Shi Zhongjun, secretary-general of the ASEAN-China Center, told the Global Times that the 3.0 version of the ACFTA will focus on industrial cooperation and trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, as well as the digital economy and the green economy — the latter fields representing new areas of cooperation that deserve special attention.

"The initiation of the negotiation is an inevitable result of the close economic and trade cooperation in the region and the detailed division of labor," Shi said. "The 3.0 version of the ACFTA is the common aspiration of ASEAN member states and China for future development, and it will make the economic and trade ties between the two sides closer than ever."

Xinhua contributed to this story.