China hopes to conclude ASEAN-China FTA 3.0 negotiations soon
Hanoi (VNA) - China is ready to work together with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to conclude negotiations for version 3.0 of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA), Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen has said.
Speaking at the opening
ceremony of the fifth round of negotiations taking place in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, on January 31, he said that China aims to further upgrade liberalisation of
trade and investment with ASEAN, on the basis of the existing ACFTA and the
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
He noted that China is also
willing to expand practical cooperation with ASEAN in emerging areas such as trade
of intermediate goods, digital trade and cross-border e-commerce.
The ongoing round of negotiations is expected
to last until February 2 with the participation of nearly 400 officials from
relevant agencies of China and ASEAN countries.
The negotiations on the ACFTA
were launched in 2000. Version 1.0 of the ACFTA was officially established in
2010, with more than 90% of the tax items of the two sides enjoying zero tariff
treatment. The ACFTA was officially upgraded to version 2.0 in 2019. At the
ASEAN-China Summit in November 2022, the two sides announced the launch of
negotiations to upgrade the ACFTA to version 3.0./.