China and a bloc of 11 Southeast Asian countries signed an upgrade to their free-trade agreement on Tuesday, expanding its terms to cover product quality, environmental protection and help for small businesses, in a sought-after strengthening of multilateral economic ties for Beijing amid its ongoing trade war with the US.
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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), a group with a combined population of 680 million and a total gross domestic product of US$3.8 trillion in 2023, signed the China-Asean Free Trade Area 3.0 upgrade protocol at this week’s Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang said the upgraded agreement creates new opportunities to expand and enhance bilateral economic and trade cooperation, while strengthening both sides’ capacity to withstand risks – particularly at a time “when many countries are facing greater development challenges after being unfairly subjected to steep tariffs.”
Li made the comments at the 28th China-Asean Summit, held on Tuesday morning in the Malaysian capital as part of the larger summit.
“As the rules-based international trading system is facing severe challenges, the signing of the protocol to upgrade the China-Asean Free Trade Area to version 3.0 carries great significance,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website.
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The ministry added that the signing of the protocol “fully demonstrates China and Asean’s shared commitment to multilateralism and free trade,” and will “inject greater confidence and momentum into regional and global economic growth, serving as an important example for countries to jointly resist protectionism and unilateralism and to tackle global trade challenges together.”