TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - China’s high-ranking official Wang Yi said China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are pushing ahead with talks on a third version of a free trade agreement at an ASEAN summit in Jakarta on Thursday, July 13, 2023.

“The two sides are actively promoting the negotiation of the free trade area version 3.0, and pushing for the full implementation of the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership),” Wang said at the forum attended by ASEAN foreign ministers as quoted from Reuters.

RCEP is the world's largest trade bloc backed by China that takes effect on January 1, 2022. The members are 15 Asia-Pacific economies, including Australia and Japan, as well as all 10 ASEAN countries. It is deemed as an alternative to the United States-led Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) that covers nearly a third of the world's population.

“We will continue to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership with ASEAN,” Wang said.

He also said the agreement will create “a more powerful strategic environment for both side's development and revitalization as well as for the long-term peace and stability of the region.”

The Beijing envoy met in a trilateral meeting with Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at the Jakarta Pancasila Building of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, July 12, 2023.

Minister Retno was reluctant to elaborate on the discussion. Yet in her remarks, Retno said Indonesia is always open to engaging and discussing with partners as the chairman of ASEAN.

Wang, who serves as Director of China Communist Party's Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office, is a substitute for Foreign Affairs Minister Qin Gang who could not visit Indonesia due to health reasons. Wang was scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later today.

Earlier at the press briefing, China’s spokesperson Lv Daliang said: “China and ASEAN are each other's largest trading partners, with a solid foundation of cooperation and huge development potential, with the deepening of regional economic integration, the continuous expansion of cooperation fields, and the continuous smooth trade exchanges, bilateral trade is expected to continue to maintain a good trend.”

According to customs data on Thursday, July 13, the value of China-ASEAN two-way trade reached US$447.3 billion in January-June, which decreased by 1.5 percent year-on-year.

REUTERS | DANIEL A. FAJRI

Editor's Choice: 30 Years of China-ASEAN; Jokowi Expects Tighter Ties with China

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News