KUALA LUMPUR: The ASEAN bloc of Southeast Asian nations and China on Tuesday signed an upgrade to their free trade agreement, which includes sections on digital, the green economy and other new industries, Beijing’s Commerce Ministry said.
The 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations is China’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade totaling $771 billion last year, according to ASEAN statistics.
China is seeking to intensify its engagement with ASEAN, a region with a collective gross domestic product of $3.8 trillion, to counter hefty import tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump’s administration on countries around the world.
The upgraded agreement “fully reflects the solemn commitment of the two sides to jointly support multilateralism and free trade,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
Beijing has been seeking to position itself as a more open economy, despite criticism from other major powers of its expanding export restrictions on rare earths and other critical minerals.
