After the leaders of several ASEAN countries attended China's September 3rd military parade, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Yan Dong said on the 8th that China will maintain close communication with ASEAN, actively advance their respective domestic signing and ratification procedures, and thus work toward officially signing the "China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol" by the end of this year.
The State Council Information Office of China held a press conference in the afternoon, where Yan Dong declared that as a landmark achievement jointly maintained and deepened by China and ASEAN in upholding free trade, the "China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0" will create an "inclusive, modern, comprehensive, and mutually beneficial" free trade agreement, "injecting greater certainty into regional and global trade."
Yan Dong said that China will focus on the nine key areas where both sides have reached consensus for the Free Trade Area 3.0 version, and carry out mutually beneficial cooperation with ASEAN. For example, in the digital economy field, efforts will be made to promote digital infrastructure construction, the adoption of mobile electronic payments, accelerate the development of cross-border e-commerce, and drive innovation in digital business models; at the same time, actively utilizing frontier technologies such as AI and big data to promote industrial transformation and upgrading.
He stated that in the green sector, for instance, China and ASEAN will promote green trade development in the Free Trade Area 3.0, strengthen cooperation with ASEAN countries in new energy vehicles, clean energy and other fields; facilitate the alignment and cooperation of green standards, promote interconnectivity of green supply chains, and jointly explore "green business opportunities."