BCN-17,18 Rising China-ASEAN economic, trade cooperation vital for long-term peace, shared prosperity in region : Cambodian officials, scholars and exporters

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Rising China-ASEAN economic, trade cooperation vital for long-term peace,
shared prosperity in region : Cambodian officials, scholars and exporters

PHNOM PENH, July 20, 2019(BSS/Xinhua) – Growing economic and trade
relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) are crucial to securing long-term peace and shared prosperity in the
region, said Cambodian officials, scholars and exporters.

ASEAN became China’s second-largest trading partner in the first half of
2019, overtaking the United States for the first time since 1997. China’s
customs data showed that China’s trade with ASEAN rose 10.5 percent to nearly
2 trillion yuan (291 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of this year, as
China’s trade with the U.S. dropped 9 percent to 1.8 trillion yuan (262
billion U.S. dollars).

Ministry of Commerce Under Secretary of State and Spokesman Seang Thay
said China has been one of ASEAN’s most important trade and investment
partners and vice versa thanks to geographic proximity and strategic
partnership between the two sides.

“ASEAN and China have so far cooperated very well in economic and trade
sectors,” he told Xinhua. “With joint efforts and high commitment made by the
leaders of China and ASEAN, I believe that the two-way trade volume between
the two sides will continue to increase in coming years.”

Multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements have significantly
boosted China-ASEAN trade and investment relations, he said.

ASEAN, established in 1967, groups Cambodia, Brunei, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Mynamar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The spokesman added that the negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement, which is expected to be
concluded by the end of this year, will become a new booster for the
development of China-ASEAN economic and trade exchanges.

Chheang Vannarith, president of the Asian Vision Institute, said China is
the top trading partner of ASEAN and ASEAN is the second largest trading
partner of China.

“The increasing economic interdependence between the two economies is the
cornerstone of long-term peace and shared prosperity in the region,” he told
Xinhua.

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“Against the backdrop of rising protectionism and unilateralism, China and
ASEAN are compelled to deepening their economic integration and advancing
inclusive, open, effective and rules-based multilateral system,” he said.

Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the BELTEI International University
in Phnom Penh, said the steady growth of economic and trade ties between
China and ASEAN was underpinned by strategic mutual trust and confidence
between the two sides.

“China’s principle of adhering to mutual respect and treating each other
as equals is the fundamental principle to continuously deepen the cooperative
relationship between China and ASEAN,” he told Xinhua.

He said China is playing a very important role as the global economic
stabilizer, and driving force to alleviate, reduce and ultimately eliminate
the poverty in the region.

“The China-ASEAN or China-Cambodia relationship and partnerships are on
the rise, and in the future this relationship will grow stronger and closer,”
he said.

Mey Kalyan, a senior advisor to the Supreme National Economic Council,
said economic and trade development between China and ASEAN has benefited
both sides and the whole region.

“This will help build stronger and more stable and open Asia,” he told
Xinhua.

Hun Lak, director of Mekong Oryza and Longmate Agriculture companies,
which export rice and banana to China, said both China and ASEAN reaped the
benefits of growing trade volume between the two sides.

“It benefits more and more enterprises and peoples in the two sides,” he
told Xinhua. “ASEAN enterprises and people have benefited a lot from the
ASEAN-China economic and trade cooperation because there has been a huge
influx of investment capital, technologies, technical skills, goods,
services, raw materials from China to ASEAN.”

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