U.S. tariffs push ASEAN, China closer together: analysts

Recent U.S. trade pressure is unexpectedly bringing Southeast Asian nations and China closer together, strengthening their economic partnership through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement, analysts say.

U.S. trade protectionism have accelerated economic integration within RCEP -- the world's largest free trade deal, with all 15 member countries pledging to deepen ties. Several additional economies have applied to join it.

"So it's just a matter of time, getting the parameters right to make sure that parties that come and join us are of the same mind, and having the same basic principles of wanting to promote trade and regional integration," said Rebecca Sta Maria, former executive director of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat in Malaysia.

Like fellow ASEAN members, Malaysia, which holds the rotating ASEAN chairmanship for 2025, faces an uncertain trade partnership with the U.S. due to fluctuating tariffs.

China and ASEAN, meanwhile, have agreed to upgrade their existing free trade agreement, aiming to further boost trade and investment, and targeting emerging sectors like the digital and green economies.

"ASEAN has comprehensively displaced the EU as China's greatest trading partner, currently up to 142 percent of EU-China trade and almost 190 percent of China-U.S. trade. So this is going to go on, continually," said Bunn Nagara, director and senior fellow from the Belt and Road Initiative Caucus for Asia-Pacific.

None of this means that ASEAN will spurn U.S. trade or investment, though analysts say relations between ASEAN and America moving forward will be tempered by a new sense of wariness.

"ASEAN countries are trying to realign their supply change to buffer against the impact of the trade war. That is a short-term impact. I think the medium- and long-term impact is this: the kind of trust that we have had on the U.S. and more broadly, the Western-led economic order, has been seriously undermined," said Peter Tc Chang, former deputy director of the Institute of China Studies, University of Malaysia.

U.S. tariffs push ASEAN, China closer together: analysts

The China-Laos Railway has become a major transport artery in Southeast Asia, cutting freight times, expanding passenger flows and linking regional economies.

The China-Laos Railway, a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, began operations in December 2021. The 1,035-kilometer railway connects Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, with Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

It has significantly enhanced regional connectivity, boosted regional economic growth, and facilitated people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

Passengers can now travel by rail all the way from Thailand to China, a journey that would have been difficult to imagine just a few years ago.

"I traveled up from Bangkok last night on the overnight train, and now I'm traveling up to Luang Prabang and then on to Kunming to explore Yunnan province. It's really easy to use the app and to book the trains, so so far so good. Everything seems to be working out," said an Australian passenger.

Jie Sen, a passenger service staff at Vientiane Railway Station, said the railway has become an important channel for cross-border travel.

"Passengers from more than 120 countries and regions have traveled on the railway. International trains between China and Laos now run four times a day, with the fastest trip from Kunming South to Vientiane taking just 9 hours and 36 minutes," he said.

"In terms of freight transport, cross-border shipping time has been reduced from five to seven days by road to just one to two days by rail. More than 3,800 categories of goods are now transported via the railway. Its logistics network reaches 19 countries and regions, including Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore," said He Xuqiang, head of Vientiane Railway Station.

China-Laos Railway becomes key regional transportation corridor