Sharon Hu, journalist for Southern Finance Omnimedia Corp (SFC)

The bilateral economic and trade volume between China and ASEAN has been increasing year by year. According to data from China's General Administration of Customs and the Ministry of Commerce, the bilateral trade volume between China and ASEAN reached 982.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, and the two sides have been each other's largest trading partners for five consecutive years.

Behind the rapid growth of trade volume between China and ASEAN, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement are the main driving forces. In May 2025, the negotiations on the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area Version 3.0 were fully completed, which is expected to inject new impetus into regional prosperity.

Recently, Tan Sri ONG Tee Keat, President of the BRICAP and former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Parliament of Malaysia stated that the full completion of the negotiations on the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area Version 3.0 (CAFTA) means that China and ASEAN will achieve a qualitative leap in bilateral economic and trade, investment, and service trade cooperation. Moreover, Version 3.0 covers a wide range of contents, such as those related to digital trade, which will also influence and drive RCEP to develop in this direction.

"RCEP and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area Version 3.0 will coordinate with each other and profoundly reshape the development environment for ASEAN small and medium-sized enterprises," he said. In the implementation of these agreements, countries within the RCEP region will, through agreement coordination, eliminate trade and non-trade barriers between countries, further strengthen digital development, and promote the deployment of green technologies, etc., which will help foster more economic growth points.