Pragmatically Promoting Regional Economic Integration at the China ASEAN Expo
On September 11th, the reporter learned from the Secretariat of the China ASEAN Expo that since the first China ASEAN Expo was held in 2004, the East China Expo has become an important platform for promoting cooperation in various fields such as politics, trade, investment, and culture between China and ASEAN countries, and an important booster for economic globalization and regional economic integration.
As an important platform for promoting regional economic integration, over the years, the East China Expo has held over 300 ministerial level high-level meetings and forums related to connectivity, production capacity, customs, health, finance, and more. It has established more than 40 "10+1" cooperation mechanisms in various fields, and facilitated the landing of a number of projects such as the "Two Countries and Two Parks" between China and Malaysia, the China ASEAN Information Port, the Land Sea New Corridor, and the China ASEAN Multimodal Transport Alliance. It has witnessed the establishment and upgrading of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area, China ASEAN as the largest trading partner, and the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and ASEAN.
At present, China and ASEAN are actively promoting negotiations on the 3.0 version of the Free Trade Area, comprehensively enhancing the level of China ASEAN economic and trade institutional openness. The China Cambodia Free Trade Agreement has come into effect, and the subsequent negotiations for the upgrade of the China Singapore Free Trade Agreement have been substantially completed. Subregional cooperation such as the China ASEAN Eastern Growth Area and the Lancang Mekong River has steadily advanced, injecting strong impetus into regional cooperation.
![Pragmatically Promoting Regional Economic Integration at the China ASEAN Expo](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/c164d4fd0ed88cac7bcad5edc9496e6b.png)
As of July this year, the cumulative two-way investment between China and ASEAN countries has exceeded 380 billion US dollars, and more than 6500 direct investment enterprises have been established in ASEAN. Both sides have jointly built a demonstration park for economic and trade innovation and development based on the "Two Countries, Two Parks" initiative, opening up a new channel for ASEAN countries to integrate into China's local open development.