Building shared prosperity: Deepening China-ASEAN regional economic cooperation

Editor's note: Song Qingrun is a professor at the School of Asian Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. It has been translated from Chinese and edited for brevity and clarity.

Despite the sluggish economic recovery worldwide, the economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN has defied the trend, demonstrating remarkable resilience and vitality. 

As of 2024, ASEAN had remained China's largest trading partner for five consecutive years, while China had been ASEAN's top trading partner for 16 years in a row. From January to July 2025, trade between the two sides reached $597 billion, up 8.2 percent year on year and accounting for 16.7 percent of China's total foreign trade in the same period. 

These impressive achievements are underpinned by the continuous upgrading of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area cooperation mechanism and the tireless efforts of both sides to drive their economic partnership to new depths.

"Hard connectivity" serves as a cornerstone for regional economic growth

Infrastructure connectivity serves as a cornerstone of regional economic integration, standing as both a key pillar of China-ASEAN economic cooperation and a powerful catalyst for advancing bilateral collaboration. 

In the first half of 2025, the China-Laos Railway delivered stellar performance, with the number of passenger trips surpassing 10 million, up 1.7 percent year on year, and freight volume exceeding 12.6 million tonnes, a 25.9-percent increase. Its passenger and freight service network now extends to 19 countries, including Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar, as well as 31 provinces across China, making it a "golden link" for deepening economic and trade ties between China and ASEAN and advancing regional connectivity. 

Meanwhile, Indonesia's Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway has carried over 10 million passenger trips since operation, slashing travel time between the two cities from 3.5 hours to just 40 minutes. 

These landmark connectivity projects have not only boosted regional logistics efficiency but also reshaped industrial patterns, stimulated regional economic growth, and improved livelihoods. 

"Soft connectivity" has proved indispensable for regional integration

In advancing economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN, infrastructure-based "hard connectivity" has played a prominent role, while "soft connectivity" has also proved indispensable, with the two mutually reinforcing. 

In Guangxi, the Chinese section of the China-Vietnam smart port is nearly complete. In 2024, cargo throughput at Guangxi's border highway ports reached 8.931 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 41.3 percent. That same year, Guangxi's Dongxing Port recorded 8.581 million inbound and outbound tourist visits, up 54.6 percent year on year, ranking first among China's land border ports and making it the busiest land port for passenger flows between China and Vietnam. 

The facilitation of people-to-people exchanges has injected cultural vitality into bilateral economic and trade partnerships. Construction on the China-Thailand Railway continues apace, while China's railway cooperation projects with Vietnam, Myanmar, and other countries are also under planning or development.

Trade and investment cooperation have brought bilateral relations closer

The steady rise in China-ASEAN trade and investment, alongside the continued optimization of their trade and investment structures, reflects the growing quality of economic cooperation between the two sides. 

In 2024, China's bilateral trade with five ASEAN countries – Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore – each exceeded $100 billion. Specifically, its trade with Vietnam and Malaysia both surpassed $200 billion. 

Vietnam's exports to China have shifted from raw materials to industrial finished goods, while Chinese investment in Vietnam reached $4.7 billion in 2024, making China the country's third-largest source of investment. 

The "Two Countries, Twin Parks" model between China and Malaysia has also delivered remarkable results. By the end of 2024, the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park had generated an industrial output of 106 billion yuan ($14.9 billion), while the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park recorded a cumulative output of over 100 billion yuan. 

CAFTA 3.0 will propel China-ASEAN collaboration to new heights

Institutional innovation provides crucial support for more convenient trade and investment between China and ASEAN. In May 2025, Chinese and ASEAN economic and trade ministers jointly announced the full conclusion of negotiations on the Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA). ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn revealed that the protocol for enhancing the CAFTA 3.0 is expected to be formally signed this October. 

From CAFTA 1.0 in 2010, which focused on trade liberalization in goods, to CAFTA 2.0 in 2015, which expanded market access, and now to CAFTA 3.0, which introduces cooperation in forward-looking areas such as the digital economy, green economy, and supply chain connectivity, China and ASEAN have built a highly dynamic network of economic and trade cooperation after over more than a decade of efforts. 

The core breakthrough of CAFTA 3.0 lies in a qualitative shift from "at-the-border" liberalization to "behind-the-border" rules alignment. New institutional and regulatory innovations are set to propel bilateral economic and trade cooperation to new heights.

China-ASEAN Expo will send a strong positive message to the world

The 22nd China-ASEAN Expo opened on Wednesday. Its theme, "Digital Intelligence and Innovation Empower Development – Leveraging China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 New Opportunities for an Even Closer China-ASEAN Community with a Shared Future," vividly captures the new direction of cooperation. The Expo served as a key platform for unlocking the cooperation potential of CAFTA 3.0 and will also become a crucial window for showcasing emerging areas of collaboration.

Against the backdrop of rising de-globalization sentiment and trade protectionism, which have fueled greater uncertainties in the global economy, the commitment to free trade and closer regional cooperation embodied in CAFTA 3.0 has taken on greater significance. 

It sends a strong message to the world in support of multilateral free trade and greater openness and cooperation. It also offers an "Asian solution" to global economic governance, providing a powerful impetus for building an open world economy and a community with a shared future for humanity.