DING CALLS FOR TAKING CHINA-ASEAN FREE TRADE AREA TO A HIGHER LEVEL

BEIJING, SEPTEMBER 18 /SRNA/ - Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Ding Xuexiang called for efforts to take the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area /CAFTA/ to a higher level.

Ding said that CAFTA is an important platform for building a China-ASEAN community with a shared future, adding that the implementation of the CAFTA Upgrade Protocol would inject new momentum into regional economic development, the China Media Group reported. "The free trade area is operating steadily and has achieved significant results, effectively promoting regional economic integration and bringing tangible benefits to the people of the region," Ding said at the opening of the 23rd China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning in southern China. Ding called for raising the level of regional opening-up, improving the framework for cooperation and institutional arrangements, deepening cooperation on standards and technical regulations, and accelerating the development of an open, inclusive and rules-based integrated regional market. "China and ASEAN should enhance trade and investment cooperation, strengthen confidence and resolve in addressing international economic and trade challenges, further expand the scope and deepen cooperation, and jointly safeguard the stability of regional and global industrial and supply chains," Ding said. He called for deeper cooperation in emerging areas, including the digital economy and the application of artificial intelligence, as well as increased trade in environmentally friendly products and services, to create new drivers of high-quality regional economic development.