China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will send an upgraded ‘version 3.0’ free-trade agreement to their heads of government for approval in October, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday after regional talks in Kuala Lumpur.
The new pact, concluded in May after 18 months of negotiations, widens the 2010 China–ASEAN Free Trade Area to cover the digital and green economies as well as supply-chain resilience, according to a statement from China’s foreign ministry.
Wang said the two sides had also endorsed a five-year action plan that sets out cooperation in more than 40 policy areas ranging from e-commerce standards to renewable-energy investment.
China and ASEAN aim to finish drafting a code of conduct for the South China Sea by next year, he added, describing the guidelines as a step towards managing overlapping territorial claims. Several ASEAN states, including the Philippines and Viet Nam, dispute Beijing’s expansive maritime claims.
Bilateral trade has expanded rapidly in recent years: two-way goods trade reached 6.99 trillion yuan (about $963 billion) in 2024, making ASEAN China’s largest trading partner and accounting for 15.9 % of its total commerce, according to Chinese customs data.
Officials did not disclose when the agreed text will be published, but diplomats said leaders are expected to endorse it at an ASEAN summit in late October. The deal would then enter a ratification process within each member state.
Analysts say the upgrade could help cushion regional supply chains against global trade tensions, though some warn that progress on the South China Sea code of conduct is likely to prove harder than finishing the trade text.
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One person was killed and nearly a dozen hurt in a new attack Riyadh's international airport on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported, a day after a strike claimed by Yemen's Houthis that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
Yemen's Houthis renewed warning to airlines, airport workers, and travellers against using Saudi airports, saying the warning should be taken seriously and that the kingdom “bore responsibility for failed interceptions”, a day after an attack on Riyadh's international airport that killed 12 people.
The Houthi movement has escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting the airport in Riyadh and other cities, killing more than a dozen people.
Ukraine is ready to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries if Moscow also halts strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
The Kremlin on Monday rejected a 60-day ceasefire idea proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to allow his country to hold presidential elections, saying it wanted an overall peace deal instead.
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The Houthi movement has escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting the airport in Riyadh and other cities, killing more than a dozen people.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Ukraine is ready to respect the energy ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, but only if Russia does the same, saying Moscow has already violated the agreement.
China has announced sanctions against Belize’s foreign minister and Paraguay’s communications minister over their countries’ diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The move comes as Beijing continues to pressure the few remaining nations that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taipei.
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