Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province Photo: VCG

China planned to establish two demonstration zones for innovative economic and trade development with Indonesia and the Philippines, so as to fully leverage the mega free trade deal - Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), as China and ASEAN have become each other's largest trading partners, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Monday.

In addition to the close trading ties, the ASEAN is an important source and destination of China's foreign direct investment. China has huge potential for mutually beneficial cooperation with both Indonesia and the Philippines, MOFCOM said in a statement.

The trade demonstration parks are expected to better connect China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with the development strategies of the two Southeast Asian countries.

The China-Indonesia demonstration park will be located in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province. The park is expected to grow into an important trade and investment corridor along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road by 2035 under the guidance of a three-staged development goal, according to MOFOM.

A total of 13 tasks were detailed in the statement, including those aiming to establish a new trade system between China and Indonesia and build a first-class international demonstration park.

Indonesia is the largest economy in ASEAN. The bilateral trade between China and Indonesia totaled $149 billion in 2022, up 19.8 percent year-on-year, according to data from China's General Administration of Customs.

As for the China-Philippines demonstration park which will be located in Zhangzhou, Fujian, it aims to become a bridge for China's economic and trade cooperation with the Philippines and other ASEAN countries by 2035.

A total of 16 tasks were listed by MOFCOM for the establishment of the China-Philippines demonstration park, such as building a trade and investment park with complementary resources, and setting up a service trade platform for innovation and development.

Bilateral trade between China and the Philippines recorded $87.7billion in 2022, up 7.1 percent year-on-year, customs data showed.

Boosted by the RCEP which came into force in the beginning of 2022, trade between China and the ASEAN members surged 15 percent year-on-year to 6.52 trillion yuan ($970 billion) in 2022.

Global Times