Yunnan, Guangxi join actions for closer China-ASEAN ties

Joint Covid fight

In the wake of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic swept across the globe. And in the ensuing days, China and ASEAN have assisted each other, setting an example for international cooperation in the Covid fight.

When certain countries were seeking decoupling with China, Cambodian premier Hun Sen become the first state leader to visit China during the Covid outbreak. Thai premier Prayuth Chan-ocha sent special video greetings to China, while Malaysia timely donated 18 million gloves to the epicenter Wuhan.

  

Guangxi medics reach Phnom Penh International Airport on March 23, 2020, aiding Cambodia in the Covid battle. (Xinhua/Mao Pengfei)  

“During the gloomy days in early 2020, the Vietnamese supplies for Covid fight often reached the border gate in the small hours, and my Vietnamese peer and I exchanged greetings and cheers at the bridge over the Beilun river, also a boundary section of the two sides,” said Chen Xiao, director of the service center at southwest Guangxi’s Dongxing land port.

When Covid-19 was on the wane months later, China also sent medical teams and supplies to the ASEAN countries, opening green channels for faster custom clearance.

In March 2020, seven Guangxi medics took a chartered flight to Phnom Penh, aiding Cambodia in Covid fight. With N95 masks, protective suits and temperature meters, their arrival was livestreamed by Hun Sen and viewed by 600,000.

China has aided Cambodia in inoculating 90 percent of its population as of September 17. “In the battle against Covid-19, the Chinese and Cambodians have been standing together,” said Wang Wentian, the Chinese ambassador to Cambodia, adding China’s aid will last till the end of the epidemic.

  

A Yunnan medical team arrives at Yangon International Airport on April 8, 2020, aiding Myanmar in Covid-19 battle. (Xinhua/Zhang Dongqiang)  

Amid the Covid outbreaks, Yunnan also sent medical teams to Laos and Myanmar in succession, helping them build up facilities for nucleic acid testing. On September 25, Chinese medical aids were handed over to Laos via a virtual ceremony, and soon the vaccines and supplies entered Laos via the Yunnan land ports of Mohan and Mengkang.

As of August, China has offered ASEAN 190 million doses of Covid vaccines, embracing the idea of China-ASEAN community with a shared future and facing the pandemic challenges with its neighbors.

Win-win commerce

Metinee Nuntadee, a 30-year-old Thai girl who has been living in Guangxi since she was 20, opened a restaurant called Lan Secret Garden, allowing foodies in Nanning, regional capital of Guangxi, to taste authentic Thai dishes.

“I couldn’t find fresh lemon in Nanning markets 10 years ago, but now the groceries offer diverse foods and ingredients from ASEAN,” said Metinee, adding her daily life is now much easier as the China-ASEAN trading ties are getting closer.

  

Photo taken on September 12, 2021 shows visitors at the ASEAN Pavilion of the 18th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. (Xinhua)

By hosting Kunming Import and Export Commodities Fair, China-South Asia Exposition (CSA expo), South and Southeast Asia Commodity Expo and Investment Fair (SSACEIF), China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, Yunnan and Guangxi have allowed more Chinese businesses to identify their partners in ASEAN.

Meanwhile, the international expos have made it possible for ASEAN businesses to further tap the huge Chinese market. Beer Laos, Cambodian mangos, Malaysian durians and more are now familiar to Chinese consumers.

At the beginning of 2010, the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area was established and an upgraded version of the FTA was rolled out in 2019. Now tariffs of 7,000 plus products have been removed and 90 percent commodities enjoy the zero-tariff under the FTA framework.

“The China-ASEAN FTA is a pilot area for openness and cooperation in the region, allowing China-ASEAN ties to be closer and pushing forward regional economic integration,” said Xu Ningning, executive president of the China-ASEAN Business Council.

When the China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations was launched in 1991, bilateral trade stood at only 7.96 billion U.S. dollars. In 2020, however, the sum reached 684.6 billion U.S. dollars; China and ASEAN have grown to be each other’s top trading partners amid the Covid pandemic.

The 2020 China-ASEAN Trade Index stood at 241.09 points, an increase of 19.64 percent compared with the level of 2019 and up 141.09 percent compared with 2010, according to data jointly released by China's General Administration of Customs and the regional government of Guangxi in September.

“China stands ready to work with ASEAN to grasp the overriding trend, remove interference, share opportunities and promote shared prosperity. We will implement in earnest our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and make new strides toward building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future,” said President Xi Jinping on the 30th Anniversary of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations.

  

Photo taken on June 18, 2018 shows visitors at the ASEAN Pavilion of the 5th China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, Yunnan province. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) 

Over the past decades, the China-ASEAN trade has grown from cargo-dominant to service and investment-oriented, featuring cooperation in big data, AI and e-commerce.

In August 2019, the China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the China (Yunnan) Pilot Free Trade Zone were inaugurated on the same day. One year later, the two pilot zones signed the framework agreement on collaborative system innovation along the border, jointly exploring a new round of upgrade of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

With the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which is jointly endorsed by China and ASEAN, coming into effect in January 2022, Yunnan and Guangxi will see more business opportunities.

Reporting by Zhang Ruogu, Han Chengyuan and Liu Ziyu (Yunnan Daily); Dong Wenfeng, Wei Heng and Chen Yize (Guangxi Daily); Trans-editing by Wang Shixue