When One Won’t, The Another Will: China Seeks Trade Increase With ASEAN Amid Dispute With US

From left, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo and Laos' Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, join hands during a family photo before the 31st ASEAN Summit in Manila, Philippines

China Seeks Trade Increase With ASEAN Amid Dispute With US

© AP Photo / Aaron Favila, Pool

ASIA & PACIFIC

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the group’s leading trade partner China have a joint target of reaching $1 trillion in trade by 2020, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Thursday during the ASEAN-China ministerial meeting in Singapore.

“China has been ASEAN’s top trading partner for the past eight consecutive years. We upgraded the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in 2015 and we’re working to fully implement this upgrade protocol. We are also striving toward a joint target of $1 trillion in trade and $150 billion in investment by 2020,” Balakrishnan said.

READ MORE: China Appeals to US’ Common Sense in Trade Dispute, Warns Against Blackmailing

The minister went on saying that against the backdrop of growing protectionism the group should speed up the negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which aims to enhance trade and investment activities in the region, as well as to eliminate economic development gaps among the parties.

According to the 2017 ASEAN Economic Community Chartbook, the group’s trade with China amounted to $368 billion in 2016, showing an increase of 2.9 percent year-on-year.The statement was made amid trade tensions between Beijing and Washington, which have been mounting since US President Donald Trump announced steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports in March, triggering a wave of disputes with a number of key trade partners. China and the US have since been exchanging threats to impose further bilateral import duties.

The ministerial meetings of ASEAN countries and dialogue partners kicked off in Singapore earlier on Thursday. The event will last through Saturday.

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