China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 to boost regional prosperity: expert

China

China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 to boost regional prosperity: expert

2025-05-26 20:51 Last Updated At：22:07

The successful conclusion of negotiations on Version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) is expected to foster the creation of a China-ASEAN community with a shared future, while driving development across the region, said an Indonesian expert on Saturday.

After nine rounds of talks in nearly two years, China and the ten ASEAN member countries have officially wrapped up their negotiations on the upgraded CAFTA, the Ministry of Commerce announced last Wednesday.

During an interview with China Central Television (CCTV), Mohammad Faisal, executive director of Indonesia's Center of Reform on Economics (CORE), emphasized that the green economy focus in the updated CAFTA represents an "upgraded" dimension of ASEAN-China economic cooperation, marking significant progress.

"The green economy, I think is something that is quite new. So, it can be seen as an upgraded characteristic of the relationship for economic cooperation between ASEAN and China," said Faisal.

Faisal underscored the pivotal role of the updated CAFTA in advancing broader and deeper regional economic integration under new circumstances.

"Each government should engage and involve the private sector to utilize this ongoing FTA to promote green economy, digital economy, supply chain connectivity, in order to address current issues," said Faisal.

Amid rising protectionism, Faisal said that the completion of the upgraded CAFTA signifies a resolute commitment to uphold free trade principles, resisting unilateralism and protectionism from certain major powers, which will inject greater certainty into regional and global trade development, boosting confidence in regional and global economic growth.

"Because of the 'set back' of free trade progress, a sort of 'set back' triggered by the United States' recent foreign policy. So, many believe that the world has started to move from globalization to de-globalization. So, this reasoning CAFTA negotiations can be seen as a repelling move or a fight back to that turns towards the de-globalization," said Faisal.

The formal signing of the upgraded CAFTA is expected to take place before the end of the year. The CAFTA was first signed in 2002 and came into force on Jan 1, 2010.

ASEAN, which consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, is China's largest trading partner. In 2024, bilateral trade amounted to 6.99 trillion yuan (about 970.21 billion U.S. dollars). In recent years, ASEAN has maintained its position as China's largest trading partner.

China's foreign exchange reserves decline in March

China's foreign exchange reserves stood at 3.3421 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of March 2026, down 85.7 billion dollars, or 2.5 percent, from the end of February, official data showed on Tuesday.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange noted that in March, the U.S. dollar index rose, while prices of major global financial assets declined, influenced by the global macroeconomic environment, monetary policies of major economies, and market expectations.

The combined effects of exchange rate conversion and changes in asset prices led to a decrease in China's foreign exchange reserves during the month, the administration said.

China's economy registered steady and improving performance during the period, with new and higher-quality development momentum. Its steady performance provided solid support for keeping the scale of the country's foreign exchange reserves basically stable, according to the administration.