Business.Balita.ph (Philippines)
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China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have seen fast growth in bilateral trade with the volume being expected to reach US$ 190 billion this year.
"The figure is expected to top US$ 200 billion in 2008, two years earlier than our expectation," said Zhang Xiaoqin, secretary general of China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat.
China and ASEAN are now each other's fourth largest trading partners. Zhang said, the China-ASEAN trade volume was US$ 160.8 billion last year, while in the first eight months this year, the bilateral trade hit US$ 127.95 billion.
Meanwhile, China and the 10 ASEAN members are speeding up the tariff reduction to facilitate the establishment of China-ASEAN free trade zone.
China's average tariff on ASEAN countries' goods was slashed from 9.9 percent to 5.8 percent now and will continue to drop to 2.4 percent in 2009, and finally in 2010, which is the scheduled time for the establishment of the free trade zone, 93 percent of products from ASEAN countries will be tariff-free.
By 2010, China will establish free trade zone with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, while Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar can enjoy five more years of transition.
Besides pushing the development of good trade, China and ASEAN countries have also speed up cooperation and investment on service trade since the two sides signed the negotiation on service trade in January this year.
"China and ASEAN have entered a new stage in terms of economic cooperation and trade ties," said Zhang.
To boost bilateral economic and trade cooperation, China and ASEAN countries have held the annual China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) in Nanning, capital of the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region since 2004. The fourth CAEXPO is planned to open on Oct. 28 this year.
"The figure is expected to top US$ 200 billion in 2008, two years earlier than our expectation," said Zhang Xiaoqin, secretary general of China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat.
China and ASEAN are now each other's fourth largest trading partners. Zhang said, the China-ASEAN trade volume was US$ 160.8 billion last year, while in the first eight months this year, the bilateral trade hit US$ 127.95 billion.
Meanwhile, China and the 10 ASEAN members are speeding up the tariff reduction to facilitate the establishment of China-ASEAN free trade zone.
China's average tariff on ASEAN countries' goods was slashed from 9.9 percent to 5.8 percent now and will continue to drop to 2.4 percent in 2009, and finally in 2010, which is the scheduled time for the establishment of the free trade zone, 93 percent of products from ASEAN countries will be tariff-free.
By 2010, China will establish free trade zone with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, while Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar can enjoy five more years of transition.
Besides pushing the development of good trade, China and ASEAN countries have also speed up cooperation and investment on service trade since the two sides signed the negotiation on service trade in January this year.
"China and ASEAN have entered a new stage in terms of economic cooperation and trade ties," said Zhang.
To boost bilateral economic and trade cooperation, China and ASEAN countries have held the annual China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) in Nanning, capital of the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region since 2004. The fourth CAEXPO is planned to open on Oct. 28 this year.
4 comments:
"China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have seen fast growth in bilateral trade with the volume being expected to reach US$ 190 billion this year.
"The figure is expected to top US$ 200 billion in 2008, two years earlier than our expectation," said Zhang Xiaoqin, secretary general of China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat."
While, I appreciate the growth forecast from $190b to $200b, I believe we need to try to plan to achieve better, perhaps set a minimum goal for 2008 trade for $215b, which is slightly over 10% growth. This may required more creativity and innovation on our part to stimulate the economy in order to accomplish this goal. I know that this is easier said than done, but I am optimistic that we (ASEAN) can do it.
It is kind of funny to see how they play around with these great big numbers and everything is in the billion and billion of dollars!
I just wish that dirt poor Cambodian people living of standard can be measured in the billion too! It is such a sad fact that the more Cambodia has economic expansion which worth in billion of dollars the poorer they get! So what is the fucken point? It is just a fucken number and it doesn't bring any tangible benefit or help raise the living of standard for dirt poor Cambodian people! Every now and then when I heard something in the billion and billion of dollars and I felt the cringe on my back!
Just be patient, better days will come. The billions is not for cambodia alone but for the 10 ASEAN countries, and we only get a small share of the trade because of our small population and lack of full productivity.
What kind of a trickle down economy is this? I don't even know how long dirt poor Cambodian people will have to wait to see the benefit of the current economic system before the next political instability!
When something doesn’t work and it had to be destroyed!
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