China and ASEAN to present upgraded free-trade pact to leaders in October, Wang Yi says

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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