PHNOM PENH, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The economic and trade prospects between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remained bright, experts said on Thursday.
Hoe Ee Khor, chief economist of the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), said China is and will continue to be a key economic and trading partner for ASEAN.
"China has been the region's largest trading partner for more than a decade, and trade prospects remain bright as ASEAN exporters cater to the massive demand of the growing Chinese market," he told Xinhua in an e-mail.
Amid the ongoing reconfiguration of global trade, the ASEAN economies have been able to benefit and position themselves as additional "links" between China and other major economies, he added.
He said many multinationals with operations in China continue to recognize the essential role of ASEAN in implementing their "Plus One" strategies in order to build resilience.
"There are various opportunities for ASEAN-China relations to deepen further, especially as both sides are increasingly facing shared, long-term challenges: rapid demographic changes, climate change, health security, and trade fragmentation, among others," he said.
He added that effective responses to these structural headwinds require closer collaboration on various areas, such as expanding services trade, accelerating knowledge and technology diffusion, mobilizing finance for climate infrastructure, and achieving supply chain security, among others.
Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute of Cambodia, an arm of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said economic and trade cooperation has been a central pillar of China-ASEAN cooperation and that both sides have become each other's largest trading partners for four consecutive years.
"China and ASEAN have promoted high-quality Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation, focusing on infrastructure development, digital economy, green technologies, and resilient supply chains," he told Xinhua. "China and ASEAN have also enjoyed fruitful BRI cooperation."
Phea said as 2024 has been designated as the China-ASEAN Year of People-to-People Exchanges, this initiative will inject stronger impetus into the development of China-ASEAN ties in all areas, including trade and investment.
"The success of ASEAN-China cooperation depends on addressing ongoing challenges together, building strategic mutual trust, and fostering mutual understanding," 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 both sides.
"China's principle of adhering to mutual respect and treating each other as equals is the fundamental principle to continuously deepen ties and cooperation between China and ASEAN," he told Xinhua.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ■
