Illustrative photo (Photo: The Jakarta Post) Jakarta (VNA) – Thanks to joint efforts by China and ASEAN, regional economic integration keeps growing, Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Hou Yanqi told media in Jakarta on June 15.
The diplomat said that China and ASEAN are each other's largest trading partners. In the first five months of this year, trade turnover between the two sides reached 2.6 trillion yuan (about 364 billion USD), up 9.9% over the same period last year.
Regarding multilateral economic frameworks, the negotiation round on China-ASEAN Free Trade Area Version 3.0 has officially started, while the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has come into effect in all member states, entering a new phase of full implementation.
Regarding connectivity cooperation, the two sides have made remarkable progress. The China-Laos railway line has started serving cross-border passengers. Major projects such as the China-Thailand Railway, the East Coast Rail Link project in Malaysia, and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor project are progressing smoothly. The joint operation and testing of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway in Indonesia has been completed.
Besides, other cooperation areas between China and ASEAN are being rapidly resumed after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ambassador said that 2023 is the year of China-ASEAN cooperation in agricultural development and food security. Accordingly, many activities have been implemented, strongly promoting the development of high-quality agriculture on both sides.
In addition, the two sides held a series of exchange activities relating to youth, communications, and sustainable development, and witnessed more frequent interactions between delegations at all levels. In terms of tourism, more and more Chinese tourists are returning to Southeast Asia, bringing a strong recovery to the region's tourism industry./.
