20th AEM-MOFCOM Consultations
13 September 2021

Since the establishment of dialogue relations between ASEAN and China in 1991, trade and economic relations have developed from strength to strength. According to preliminary ASEAN data, total merchandise trade between ASEAN and China reached US$ 516.9 billion in 2020, registering an increase of 1.8% year-on-year despite the challenging trade environment brought by COVID-19. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows from China to ASEAN amounted to US$ 7.6 billion in 2020, accounting for 5.5 per cent of ASEAN’s total FDI, which placed China as the fourth largest source of FDI among ASEAN’s Dialogue Partners. According to China’s statistics, over the past 30 years, ASEAN-China trade in goods has grown from US$ 7.96 billion to US$ 684.6 billion, and cumulative two-way investment has exceeded US$ 310 billion. China has been ASEAN’s largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years, and ASEAN became China’s largest trading partner for the first time in 2020. ASEAN is a key region where Chinese enterprises invest and the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), which has been upgraded and is being improved further, remains one of the cornerstones of ASEAN-China economic relations. Both sides have also worked together to successfully sign the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement.

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