Chinese vice premier calls for building higher-standard China-ASEAN FTA

The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) 3.0 Upgrade Protocol, once in effect, will inject enduring impetus into regional economic development, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said on Thursday, urging efforts to build a higher-standard CAFTA.

Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks while addressing the opening ceremony of the 23rd China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning, capital city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Ding said that all sides should comprehensively improve opening up in the region, explore ways to develop more robust cooperation frameworks and institutionalized arrangements, deepen cooperation in standards and technical regulations, and move faster toward an integrated regional market that is open, inclusive and rules-based.

On upgrading cooperation in trade and investment, he said China and ASEAN member states should demonstrate confidence and determination in jointly tackling challenges in international trade and economy, and work together to safeguard stable and smooth industrial and supply chains in this region and beyond.

Regarding deepening cooperation in emerging areas, he called on all sides to work together to advance the development of digital economy in the region, deepen cooperation in scenario-based applications in areas including AI, and remove trade barriers to environmental goods and services.

He encouraged all sides to make connectivity more convenient and efficient, promote the construction of infrastructure such as railways, highways, ports and airports, remove choke points in cross-border logistics, and pursue high-level development of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.

Vice President of Myanmar U Nyo Saw, Standing Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Gia Tuc, Deputy Prime Minister of Laos Saleumxay Kommasith, and Secretary-General of ASEAN Kao Kim Hourn also addressed the event.

Ding also held meetings separately with the leaders of Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos on Wednesday afternoon.

Ding then declared the expo open.

Following the ceremony, Ding toured the expo's exhibition halls and interacted with representatives of the participating exhibitors.

On Wednesday afternoon, Ding met separately with U Nyo Saw, Pham Gia Tuc, and Saleumxay Kommasith.

He said that China is ready to work with all parties, taking the important consensus reached by the heads of state as the fundamental guide, to maintain close high-level exchanges, strengthen the alignment of development strategies, expand practical cooperation, and increase people-to-people and cultural exchanges, so as to jointly build an even closer community with a shared future and make greater contributions to regional and global prosperity and stability.

The foreign political leaders highly commended China's important role in regional development, and expressed their willingness to deepen cooperation with China across various fields and advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

During his stay in Guangxi, Ding also visited a China-ASEAN AI application cooperation center and a key metals research institute to conduct research on the cooperative development of AI, the protection and governance of ecological environment, and other work.

Chinese vice premier calls for building higher-standard China-ASEAN FTA

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced his resignation on Thursday after preliminary results showed his right-wing bloc lost its parliamentary majority in the general election.

"The Speaker will now lead the next steps toward forming a new government. To allow that process to begin immediately, I hereby request to be relieved of my duties as prime minister," Kristersson said in a letter to the speaker of of parliament which he posted to X .

Preliminary results released earlier Thursday by the Swedish Election Authority showed that the center-left opposition bloc had secured a parliamentary majority, with all 6,626 electoral districts counted.

Together, the four opposition parties received 49.6 percent of the vote and secured 176 seats in the 349-seat parliament. Kristersson's right-wing bloc received 48.8 percent of the vote and won 173 seats.

The focus now shifts to whether the four opposition parties can agree on a governing arrangement. The grouping brings together the Social Democrats, the Left Party, the Green Party and the Centre Party. The Social Democrats remained the largest party, receiving 28 percent of the vote and securing 99 seats.

Reaching such an arrangement could prove difficult given the parties' significant policy differences. Swedish Television domestic political commentator Mats Knutson cited taxation, sick-pay deductions and nuclear power as key areas of disagreement, while noting that compromises could be reached on other issues.

Swedish PM resigns after parliamentary elections defeat