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China-ASEAN

In November 2001, China and the 10-member Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) began negotiations to set up a free trade area.

One year later, a framework agreement for the planned FTA was signed. The FTA, a zero-tariff market of more than 1.7 billion people, has been targeted to come into force in 2010 for the six original ASEAN members (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) and in 2015 for the other four (Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam). Implementation of the framework agreement would occur in stages. For instance:

– An early harvest programme covering trade in goods came into force in July 2005.
– Negotiations on a dispute settlement mechanism were finalised in 2004 for implementation in 2005.
– Negotiations on trade in services were completed and an agreement signed in January 2007, for implementation in July 2007.
– The China-ASEAN investment agreement was to be signed at the ASEAN Summit in Thailand in December 2008.

Separately, China signed a bilateral FTA with ASEAN member Singapore in October 2008. Beijing has also been hammering out a lot of separate, smaller and more specific bilateral deals with ASEAN neighbours, such as the infamous Philippine-China investment agreements (the subject of huge corruption scandals in the Philippines in 2007), harmonised food safety standards with Thailand (to facilitate agricultural trade) and numerous arrangements with the Mekong Delta countries.

Politics around the China-ASEAN deal are delicate as ASEAN states want to avoid China’s domination and yet build their economies by interacting with China, especially given the slowdown in demand from the US and European markets. At the same time, China is moving up the manufacturing value-chain losing need for primary products that ASEAN states produce while its search for raw materials such as minerals and oil has rapidly gone global. Finally, the coming into force of full-scale zero-tariff farm trade with China from 2010 onward has raised many fears in the ASEAN world.

last update: May 2012
Photo: MangAndri Kasep / CC BY 2.0

Thailand to pursue FTA with China despite nearly US$30 bn deficit
The Nation | 4-Jan-2024
Thailand and China plan to resume bilateral free trade agreement negotiations this year despite Thailand’s mounting trade deficit with China of nearly US$30 billion.
: ASEAN , China , Thailand
China acelera las negociaciones para la nueva versión del Tratado de Libre Comercio China-ASEAN
CGTN | 21-Sep-2023
El viceministro de Comercio de China, Li Fei, ha afirmado que el país fortalecerá la cooperación con la Asociación de Naciones del Sudeste Asiático, incluyendo la aceleración de las negociaciones para la tercera versión del Tratado de Libre Comercio China-ASEAN.
: ASEAN , China
China to further deepen cooperation with ASEAN, with Version 3.0 FTA expected to target emerging sectors, industrial division
Global Times | 18-Sep-2023
The construction of the Version 3.0 China-ASEAN FTA will cover sectors such as the digital economy, green economy and supply chain connectivity.
: ASEAN , China
China, ASEAN advancing negotiations on FTA 3.0: ministry
Ecns | 28-Aug-2023
China and ASEAN are actively advancing Free Trade Area 3.0 negotiations, enhancing the openness of the China-ASEAN economic and trade system, Vice Minister of Commerce Li Fei said.
: ASEAN , China
High digital stakes in new China–ASEAN new agreement
East Asia Forum | 9-Aug-2023
Negotiations for the third iteration of the China–ASEAN Free Trade Agreement continued beyond June 2023. The development of the digital economy — has raised some alarm bells for ASEAN negotiators and others.
: ASEAN , China , e-commerce | digital economy
Top diplomat says China, ASEAN pushing ahead with free trade area talks
Yahoo | 13-Jul-2023
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are pushing ahead with talks on a third version of a free trade agreement at an ASEAN summit in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said.
: ASEAN , China