Cafta Provides China-Asean Cooperation Room To Grow

By Ng Che Yean BEIJING, Nov 18 (Bernama) -- The China-Asean Free Trade Area(CAFTA), which has boosted two-way bilateral ties between the country and the grouping, has further room to grow, says Xu Ningning, executive vice secretary-general of the China-Asean Business Council. CAFTA, established in 2010, has contributed to rapid economic growth and trade cooperation between China-Asean, he said in a statement ahead of the China-Asean dialogue relations 20th anniversary to be held in Bali, Indonesia, on Nov 18. "Between January and October this year, trade between China and Asean recorded US$295.9 billion, up 25.7 per cent, year on year. "Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore are China's top three trade partners this year. "Machinery and electronics are the major trade products between China and Asean, and electronic products accounted for 50 per cent,"said Xu. He said, China's investment in Asean was growing faster than Asean's investment in China. "As of August of this year, bilateral investment between China and Asean reached US$90 billion while total investment by Chinese companies in Asean reached US$22.3 billion. "Asean has become China's top destination of investment," he added. -- BERNAMA