At the regular press conference held by the Ministry of Commerce on August 22, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, He Yadong, stated that efforts will be made to deepen regional economic integration, accelerate the negotiation of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 version, and continue to release the benefits of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), making greater contributions to regional development and prosperity.

"At present, the momentum of the world economic recovery is unstable, and the economic growth of all countries is facing considerable pressure. The need to accelerate the negotiation process of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 is highlighted." Liang Haiming, president of the "the Belt and Road" Institute of Hainan University, told the Securities Daily that in the face of many uncertainties in the global economy, the upgraded China ASEAN Free Trade Area will better respond to the challenges brought by trade protectionism and geopolitical fluctuations by strengthening regional cooperation, and improve regional economic resilience.

Liang Haiming analyzed that the 3.0 version of the negotiations aims to further reduce tariffs and non-tariff barriers between China and ASEAN countries, promote trade and investment growth, strengthen industrial and supply chain connectivity, further expand cooperation areas, and inject more certainty and positive energy into peace, stability, and lasting prosperity in the Asia Pacific region.

The China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 negotiations were launched in November 2022 and have now completed seven rounds of negotiations. The reporter found that each round of negotiations covers a wide range of topics, including but not limited to digital economy, green economy, trade in goods, investment, economic and technological cooperation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, competition and consumer protection, small and medium-sized enterprises, legal and institutional affairs, standard technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.

Looking back, China and ASEAN have achieved fruitful results in the above-mentioned areas of cooperation. Taking goods trade as an example, data recently released by the General Administration of Customs shows that in the first seven months, ASEAN became China's largest trading partner, with a total trade value of 3.92 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.5%, accounting for 15.8% of China's total foreign trade value. Among them, exports to ASEAN amounted to 2.36 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.7%; Imports from ASEAN amounted to 1.56 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.9%; The trade surplus with ASEAN reached 793.55 billion yuan, an increase of 33.2%.

Song Siyuan, Associate Researcher at the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, told Securities Daily reporters that for China ASEAN cooperation, especially economic cooperation, the 3.0 version of the negotiations has both the attributes of "icing on the cake" and "innovation and change seeking". Once the negotiations are completed, the latest version of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area will bring more vitality to both sides in traditional areas of cooperation, as well as create better conditions for both sides to cooperate in cutting-edge fields and actively develop new paths. For example, the economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN is becoming increasingly close, but the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in it is relatively low. Once the latest version of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area is implemented, small and medium-sized enterprises from both sides are likely to receive more support from it.

Since its full completion in January 2010, the China ASEAN Free Trade Area has brought fruitful results to bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Nowadays, China and ASEAN are striving to weave a closer network of common interests and elevate the integration of interests to a new level. Several interviewed experts stated that China and ASEAN are important partners and jointly create development opportunities. Promoting the upgrading of the free trade zone is not only beneficial for regional economic recovery and growth, but also enhances the overall competitiveness of both sides' industrial chains and promotes deep integration of supply chains.

After the negotiations are completed, the latest version of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area will bring new vitality to China's cross-border e-commerce, new energy vehicles, artificial intelligence, remote healthcare, smart cities and other fields or industries. With Chinese car companies strengthening their localization production and sales layout of new energy vehicles in ASEAN countries, the industrial chain supply chain connection between China and ASEAN in the field of new energy vehicles is increasingly deepening. It is expected that the upgraded China ASEAN Free Trade Area will better help China's new energy vehicle industry ecosystem 'go global', "said Lyu Yue, a professor at the National Institute of Opening up at the University of International Business and Economics, to a reporter from Securities Daily.

The dividends of the upgraded free trade zone will ultimately be transmitted to domestic enterprises and consumers. Speaking of this, Lyu Yue analyzed that in order to better seize the upcoming foreign trade opportunities, it is recommended that Chinese import and export enterprises do the following work: firstly, actively cooperate with cross-border e-commerce platforms to open up new trade channels and markets; Secondly, accelerate the pace of digital transformation; The third is to enhance risk prevention and control capabilities and cross-border business capabilities, and avoid trade frictions through compliant operations; The fourth is to understand and fully utilize a series of policy achievements in China ASEAN economic and trade cooperation, effectively avoiding risks.