Cafta report card
China-Asean trade pact starting to pay dividends but more cooperation is needed.
- Published: 17 Sep 2012 at 12.09
- Newspaper section: Asia focus
China is encouraged by growing cooperation with Asean countries and hopes to see even more development in China-Asean trade to generate benefits for both sides.
Asean is now one of China’s top three trading partners, with bilateral trade last year reaching a record $326.85 billion and Asean running a trade surplus with China.
Under the China-Asean Free Trade Agreement (Cafta) that went into effect on Jan 1, 2010, more than 7,000 products are now traded duty-free between China and the six developed Asean economies: Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The other four Asean members — Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar — are to join the zero-tariff arrangement by 2015.
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