China ASEAN free trade area becomes a model of global free trade

After winter, it was early dark, and the shop assistants at Dongxing port, Guangxi, on the border of China and Vietnam, were preparing to close the stall at 6 p.m. After a busy day, Vietnamese businessman fan Yuehua packed up the few Vietnamese fruits left, and a cart could hold all her household belongings. Fan Yuehua, who lives in mang street, Vietnam, began selling Vietnamese fruits near Dongxing port four years ago, becoming a "cross-border worker". "You add my wechat, I can send you any Vietnamese fruit you want to buy." Said fan Yuehua. She told reporters that her fruits not only sell well in the border areas, but also in other cities through online channels, with a daily turnover of thousands of yuan in the peak season, largely due to the construction of China ASEAN Free Trade Area. In 2010, the China ASEAN free trade area was fully established.

This is a free trade area composed of developing countries with the largest population. Fan said that in recent years, China has brought new opportunities to many ASEAN countries. Fruits from Vietnam, Thailand and other countries have entered the Chinese market at a more and more people-friendly price, and the sales volume is growing. In addition, the efficiency of customs clearance has been greatly improved. Many fruit merchants are keen to seize this opportunity. According to the data, in the first half of 2019, China imported 3.956 million tons of fruits and US $5.58 billion, up 38% and 29% respectively year on year. Fruit trade is a part of the free trade cooperation between China and ASEAN. Within the framework of China ASEAN Free Trade Area, more than 90% of the commodities of China and ASEAN have achieved zero tariff. In the first three quarters of 2019, bilateral economic and trade cooperation continued to grow rapidly. The total import and export value of China and ASEAN increased by 11.5% year on year, more than four times the overall growth rate of China's foreign trade in the same period. In the first half of 2019, ASEAN became China's second largest trading partner.

Yu miaojie, vice president of the National Development Research Institute of Peking University, said that the current global economic and trade forms are complex, and trade protectionism is on the rise, while the trade between China and ASEAN is against the trend. This is mainly due to the tariff reduction between the two regions. Over the past decade, the two sides have cancelled tariffs on 7000 kinds of products. Tariff reduction and the elimination of trade barriers continue to promote the rapid development of bilateral trade. Yu said that the commodities exported by China and ASEAN are highly complementary. China mainly exports industrial products to ASEAN, and ASEAN mainly exports agricultural products to China. Because of complementarity, the total factor productivity of the two economies can be greatly improved, so as to enhance people's happiness and create a real community of common destiny. "China ASEAN Free Trade Area has become a successful model of global free trade.". On August 30, 2019, China (Guangxi) pilot free trade zone was officially opened for operation. According to the analysis of the insiders, Guangxi, Heilongjiang and Yunnan pilot free trade zones are the first free trade zones set up by China in the border areas, especially Guangxi and Yunnan pilot free trade zones are all oriented to ASEAN, which will have a positive interaction with the construction of the new land and sea channel in the West, and further promote the close cooperation between the western provinces of China and ASEAN.

In recent years, with the "one belt and one road" initiative in ASEAN, taking root and blossom and fruiting, and achieving the early harvest of the new channel for international land and sea trade, a large number of projects such as the Wan Wan high-speed rail, the old fellow railway, the Hanoi light rail, the Phnom Penh West Port expressway have been steadily advancing, releasing the potential and economic benefits of cooperation and enhancing the economic and social development of ASEAN countries and benefiting the common people. On October 22, 2019, the protocol on Upgrading China ASEAN Free Trade Area came into full force for all members of the agreement. Wang Yuzhu, executive director of the China ASEAN Research Institute of Guangxi University, said that the creation of the upgraded version of the free trade zone has lowered the threshold in terms of the regulations on the origin and trade clearance, as well as in terms of the regulations in the field of service trade and investment, which has a positive role in further releasing the vitality of the free trade zone and will drive the regional cooperation to a deeper level.

With the comprehensive entry into force of the upgrading protocol, the echelon and complementarity of industries undertaken by both sides have been continuously enhanced, and cooperation in new fields such as digital economy, e-commerce, smart city and 5g has entered the fast lane. Cai Weicai, vice president of Thailand Kaitai bank, said that unilateralism and protectionism are endangering global economic growth, the global industrial chain and supply chain are disturbed, and the development process of developing countries and emerging economies are affected. Both ASEAN and China are active advocates of free trade and multilateralism. FTA makes regional value chains closer. Driven by the "one belt and one way" initiative and the free trade zone, the cooperation between ASEAN and China will become closer and become the main driving force for the healthy development of the global economy in the future.