China, ASEAN expected to expand economic, trade cooperation into emerging sectors: official

China and the Association of East Asian Nations (ASEAN) are expected to expand their cooperation into emerging sectors as bilateral economic and trade ties continue to deepen, China's Vice Minister of Commerce Yan Dong said on Tuesday.

China's trade with the ASEAN exceeded 1 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time last year, with bilateral trade value reaching 1.05 trillion dollars, up 7.4 percent year on year, said Yan.

He further noted that the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol, officially signed in October last year, will further promote cooperation into emerging fields.

"The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol has been officially signed, extending bilateral free trade cooperation and regional economic integration into emerging areas such as the digital economy, green economy, standards, and production and supply chains," said Yan.

Yan said that China has remained ASEAN's largest trading partner for 17 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's biggest trading partner for six successive years.

In the first seven months of 2026, total trade between China and ASEAN reached 744.41 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 24.7 percent year on year, accounting for 21.8 percent of China's total foreign trade during this period, he said.

China, ASEAN expected to expand economic, trade cooperation into emerging sectors: official

Rescue operations in mudslide‑hit Nepal are being slowed by blocked roads, harsh terrain and severe weather, with Chinese and Indian experts joining in the large-scale search effort to locate thousands of people who remain missing.

Nepalese authorities said Tuesday the death toll had risen to 1,010, with 4,599 people still missing. More than 10,000 people have been rescued so far but operations are far from over.

Teams are racing against time but face extreme challenges, with roads cut off and heavy equipment unable to reach remote areas.

"There is no road. There's no way to go to these places. It's so difficult. You have seen how the army and security people have rescued the people by sliding them and they are crawling under the mud, if they stand they will be completely halfway buried," said Bishal Nath Upreti, a disaster management expert.

To reach hundreds of hydropower workers trapped inside tunnels, Chinese and Indian experts have joined the operation, assessing underground conditions to penetrate blockages without triggering further collapse.

With roads cut off, heavy equipment cannot be moved into the disaster zone, slowing progress. Inside the tunnels, high water levels and thick silt have made movement difficult, forcing rescuers to advance slowly.

Rescue in Nepal mudslide slowed by terrain, weather as death toll tops 1,000