Major progress expected from China-ASEAN free trade talks

Major progress is expected from the negotiations on the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0, which were concluded substantially in October last year, a Foreign Ministry official has said.

"Good news and big news will soon come," Liang Jianjun, deputy head of the Department of Asian Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Tuesday.

Liang made the remarks at a news conference in Beijing introducing China's foreign policy toward its neighboring countries.

He said China has pursued international cooperation, including the cooperation over the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, following the spirit of equality, mutual benefit and putting the greater good first.

China and ASEAN have said they are working toward the signing of their free trade area 3.0 upgrade protocol this year. The upgraded FTA will cover nine areas, including digital economy, green economy and interconnectivity of supply chains, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

ASEAN is China's largest trading partner. In 2024, bilateral trade increased by nine percent to 6.99 trillion yuan ($968 billion), accounting for 15.9 percent of China's foreign trade, official statistics showed.

Liang also said China welcomes exports of high-quality products from its neighboring countries, including Southeast Asian countries.

"Markets and opportunities abound in China. We hope to share development opportunities with all countries, including our neighbors, to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results," Liang said.

Speaking of the recent trade talks between China and the United States, Liang said China will not waver over its fundamental principle or make concessions concerning its core interests.

"We have sufficient patience, resolve, resources and measures," he said.

China is firmly promoting high-level opening up and building a new development paradigm featuring dual circulation, in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay, Liang noted.

"We will continue to communicate, but will never accept any extortion," he said. "Nor will we accept the behavior of saying one thing and doing another."