Economic ministers' meeting on East Asia cooperation, namely the
21st China-ASEAN (10+1) Economic Ministers' Meeting, the 25th
ASEAN-China-Japan-ROK (10+3) Economic Ministers' Meeting and the 10th
East Asian Summit (10+8) Economic Ministers' Meeting, were held on
September 17. Assistant Minister of Commerce Li Fei attended the
meetings via video link in Beijing.
The parties had in-depth exchanges and reached numerous agreements
on key topics of international and regional trade and economic
cooperation, including deepening China-ASEAN trade and economic
cooperation, building a version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN FTA, implementing
the RCEP agreement up to high standards, strengthening resilience of
regional industrial and supply chains, promoting post-pandemic economic
recovery and cooperation, and safeguarding the multilateral trading
system.
At the 10+1 meeting, the parties agreed that China-ASEAN trade and
economic cooperation has yielded fruitful outcomes under the guidance of
the leaders, that China and ASEAN have remained each other's largest
trading partner, and that mutual investment has been vibrant. The two
sides agreed that in the first year of China-ASEAN comprehensive
strategic partnership, both sides should develop closer trade and
economic ties, expand trade and investment, enhance industrial and
supply chain cooperation, continue to build the China-ASEAN FTA, and
boost post-pandemic recovery in China and ASEAN countries. The meeting
endorsed the Work Program on Further Deepening China-ASEAN Trade and
Economic Cooperation, the progress report on implementation of the
ACFTA, the Joint Feasibility Study Report to Further Enhance the ACFTA
(ACFTA3.0), and the Joint Ministerial Statement by China and ASEAN on
Cooperation for Post-COVID 19 Economic Recovery.
At the 10+3 meeting, the parties expressed their commitment to
closer cooperation to overcome the adverse impact of Covid-19 and better
leverage RCEP's role. The parties spoke highly of the 10+3 Forum on
Industrial Chain and Supply Chain Cooperation, for its key role in
increasing resilience of regional industrial and supply chains and
facilitating post-pandemic economic recovery. The meeting endorsed the
ASEAN Plus Three Economic Cooperation Work Programme (ECWP) 2023-2024
and the progress report of an action plan on mitigating the economic
impact of Covid-19
At the 10+8 meeting, the parties exchanged views on global and
regional economy, implementation of the outcomes of the 12th Ministerial
Conference (MC12) of the WTO and other issues.
Officials responsible for economy and trade from the ASEAN member
states and ASEAN dialogue partners including Japan, the ROK, Australia,
New Zealand, India, the U.S. and Russia attended the meetings.