Representatives of China and ASEAN have their picture taken during the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Yuxi, China on June 14, 2016. (Photo: Reuters)

ASEAN’s current relations with other countries were established through mechanisms of dialogue partners and observers. ASEAN has established a strategic partnership with China and both sides now maintain basic dialogue mechanisms: a senior political dialogue, joint cooperative committees on economics, trade, science, and technology, and the ASEAN Committee in Beijing.

Both sides have implemented agreements on commercial commodities, services, and investment and an Action Plan for 2016-2020, and boosted the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity.

China is now ASEAN’s biggest trade partner and ASEAN is China’s 3^rd largest trade partner. Two-way trade revenue in 1991 was about 8 billion USD. This increased to 470 billion USD by 2015, jumping 18.5% in a single year.

The figures show that economic and trade ties between ASEAN and China have become an important pillar in their strategic partnership. Both sides will find more cooperative opportunities in the ASEAN Economic Community, negotiations on upgrading the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which is in the final negotiation stage.

At the ASEAN-China summit last week leaders of both sides said they are determined to raise bilateral trade revenue to 1 trillion USD and investment to 150 billion USD by 2020.

ASEAN and China have acted to facilitate trade and investment, enhance connectivity, expand financial cooperation, exert a greater effort to reduce poverty, and strengthen maritime cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. ASEAN has taken advantage of traditional channels including the annual China-ASEAN trade fair (CAEXPO) to promote their staple products and exports to China.