In November 2001, China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began negotiations for the establishment of a free trade area. After the first six signatories reached their target by 2010, the CLMV countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam) adopted the same customs policy with the same objective to be achieved by 2015. [6] In 2010, the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area became the People`s Free Trade Area and the third largest free trade area in terms of nominal GDP. It was also the third largest volume of trade after the European Economic Area and the North American Free Trade Area. [12] [7] The Framework Agreement was signed by eleven Heads of Government on 4 November 2002 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. [4]: Hassanal Bolkiah (Sultan of Brunei Darussalam), Hun Sen (Prime Minister of Cambodia), Megawati Soekarnoputri (President of Indonesia), Bounnhang Vorachith (Prime Minister of Laos), Mahathir ben Mohamad (Prime Minister of Malaysia), Than Shwe (Prime Minister of Burma), Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (President of the Philippines), Goh Chok Tong (Prime Minister of Singapore), Thaksin Shinawatra (Prime Minister of Thailand), Phan Văn Khải (Prime Minister of Vietnam), Zhu Rongji (P) Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State Council of the People`s Republic of China). [4] [5] The ASEAN-Korea Agreement on Trade in Goods was signed in 2006 and entered into force in 2007. It defines the preferential regime for trade in goods between ASEAN member states and South Korea, which allows 90% of the products traded between ASEAN and Korea to be treated duty-free. The agreement provides for a gradual reduction and elimination of customs duties by each country on almost all products. Under the products agreement, ASEAN-6, including Brunei Darussalam and Korea, have eliminated more than 90% of tariffs by January 2010. The Heads of State and Government of China and ASEAN (AMS) signed the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between China and ASEAN at the sixth China-ASEAN Summit in November 2002. In November 2004, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and AMS leaders witnessed the signing of the Agreement on Trade in Goods of the Sino-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force in July 2005.
In January 2007, the two sides signed the Agreement on Trade in Services, which entered into force in July 2007. In August 2009, both sides signed the investment agreement. The establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area strengthens the close economic and trade relations between the two sides and also contributes to the economic development of Asia and the world as a whole. The amendments to the free trade area framework mainly concerned Vietnam. These changes should help Vietnam to reduce tariffs and set deadlines as guidelines. [14] Regardless of this, China signed a bilateral free trade agreement with ASEAN member Singapore in October 2008. Beijing has also negotiated many separate, smaller, and more specific bilateral agreements with its ASEAN neighbors, such as the famous Philippine-Chinese investment agreements (the issue of corruption scandals in the Philippines in 2007), harmonized food safety standards with Thailand (to facilitate agricultural trade), and numerous agreements with the Countries of the Greater Mekong Delta. The first stage included the first six signatories who, until 2010, participated in the elimination of their customs duties on 90% of their products. [6] Between 2003 and 2008, trade with ASEAN increased from $59.6 billion to $192.5 billion.
[7] China`s transformation into a great economic power in the twenty-first century has led to an increase in foreign investment in the Bamboo Network, a network of overseas Chinese companies operating in Southeast Asian markets and with common family and cultural ties. [8] [9] In 2008, ASEAN members and the People`s Republic of China had a nominal gross domestic product of about $6 trillion. [10] [11] A year later, a framework agreement was signed for the draft free trade agreement. . . .