China has been ASEAN's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, while ASEAN has remained China's top trading partner for four consecutive years, according to the Blue Book of China-ASEAN EXPO, which is released in Nanning City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Monday.
The blue book, titled "Vision on China-ASEAN Economic and Trade Cooperation," reported that trade between China and ASEAN has been growing at an average annual rate of 7.5 percent since 2013 and the bilateral trade volume reached 911.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2023.
It also pointed out the expected expansion of trade volume between the two parties and the improvement of service trade in both quantity and quality. In addition, the realization of the version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, which was officially launched in Nov 2022, is set to offer enterprises more business opportunities.
"We have, for the first time, compiled a list of popular industries, popular companies, and popular products and used a selection of exemplary cases to offer models for collaboration. By rolling out these demonstration cases, we inspire and offer insights to other businesses. For example, popular industries like fruit processing in the primary sector, high-end equipment manufacturing in the secondary sector, and modern transportation in the tertiary sector are among the most actively collaborating industries within their categories," said Wei Zhaohui, secretary-general of the China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat.
The five-day 21st China-ASEAN Expo opened in Nanning on Tuesday.
This year's edition of the expo boasts an exhibition area of nearly 200,000 square meters and expects the participation of over 3,000 enterprises.
China remains ASEAN's largest trading partner: blue book
China remains ASEAN's largest trading partner: blue book
