China ASEAN Photo:VCG

China's trade with ASEAN countries has seen vigorous growth, with the Southeast Asia region remaining China's largest trading partner from January to May, according the General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Wednesday, which mirrors the closer connectivity between China and ASEAN.

The total trade value between China and ASEAN rose 2.59 trillion yuan in the first five months, an increase of 9.9 percent year-on-year, accounting for 15.4 percent of China's total foreign trade, per GAC.

Among them, China's export to ASEAN was 1.56 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.4 percent, and the import amounted to 1.03 trillion yuan or 1.4 percent rise, both achieving positive growth. The trade surplus with ASEAN came in at 523.86 billion yuan, an increase of 64.3 percent.

In the first five months, trade to the RCEP member economies in which the ASEAN countries are included, reached 5.11 trillion yuan, up 4.5 percent year-on-year.

The positive trade was driven by the RCEP, which produces a significant pulling effect on regional economic cooperation and trade, because it helps further promote the integrated development of regional industrial and supply chains, and facilitating the higher level of opening-up, Liu Zongyi, secretary-general of the Research Center for China-South Asia Cooperation at Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"It also shows that China remains attractive to ASEAN countries as the largest consuming market and production hub to the region," Liu said.

The RCEP officially entered into force for the Philippines on Friday, marking the full entry into force of the agreement for all15 signatories including 10 ASEAN countries.

The China proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has also injected momentum to the regional trade growth, with ASEAN being an important part of the initiative.

In the first five months, China's total import and export to countries along the Belt and Road rose by 13.2 percent, bringing the total trade value to 5.78 trillion yuan.

Among all the projects, the successful opening of the land-mark project of the China-Laos Railway under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has promoted regional connectivity, while bringing tangible opportunities and dividends to enterprises in China, Laos and other ASEAN members, experts said.