KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- China signed an expanded version of a free trade agreement Tuesday with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, with Chinese Premier Li Qiang pitching expanded economic ties with his country as an alternative to the protectionist policies of U.S.President Donald Trump.
Li Qiang told an ASEAN-China summit meeting after the signing that closer cooperation could help overcome global economic uncertainties.He said “pursuing confrontation instead of solidarity brings no benefit” in the face of economic coercion and bullying, in a swipe at the U.S.
“Unity is strength,” he said, citing remarks by President Xi Jinping made during a Southeast Asia visit earlier this year.His remarks were met with skepticism by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., whose country has clashed with China over competing claims in the South China Sea, as have other ASEAN nations.Marcos welcomed the expanded trade pact, but stressed that “this cooperation cannot exist alongside coercion.”The signing of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area 3.0 came on the final day of the annual ASEAN summit and related meetings and was witnessed by Li Qiang and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is serving as ASEAN chair this year.It’s the third revision of the long-standing agreement, which was first signed in 2002 and came into force in 2010.
The free trade area covers a combined market of more than 2 billion people and lowers tariffs on goods and boosting flows of services and investment.Two-way trade has surged from $235.5 billion in 2010 to nearly $1 trillion last year.ASEAN and China are each other's top trading partners.Li stressed “mutual reliance” between China and ASEAN members Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, calling them “good neighbors and good brothers that are close in geography, culture and sentiment.”“Unilateralism and protectionism have seriously impact...