Overview of foreign trade of the 10 ASEAN countries

According to trade statistics for January to June 2020 released by China's General Administration of Customs (GAC), ASEAN's total trade volume with China was $297.8 billion, up 2% year-on-year, maintaining positive growth. China's previous largest trading partner, the European Union (EU), was $284.1 billion, down 5% year-on-year due to Brexit, and was overtaken in ranking by ASEAN. At No. 3 is the United States, which saw a sharp 10 percent year-on-year drop in trade due to diplomatic tensions.

As for the share of China's total trade volume, ASEAN rose from 14% in 2019 to 14.7% in January-June 2020, the EU fell from 15.4% to 14%, and the US fell from 11.8% to 11.5%.

The revised free trade agreement (FTA) between China and ASEAN comes into force in October 2019. Thresholds have been lowered in rules of origin, trade clearance agreements, trade in services and investment areas, further releasing the dividends of FTA implementation.