According to e.vnexpress.net, trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reached $643 billion in the first half of the year, driven by deepening industrial integration and expanded logistics networks.
Industrial integration drives intermediate goods trade
Trade in intermediate goods, including parts, components, and production inputs, rose 24.5% to 2.86 trillion yuan during the period, accounting for around two-thirds of total trade, according to the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC).
Lyu Daliang, GACC’s spokesperson, attributed the steady growth in intermediate goods trade to the increasingly deep integration and connectivity between Chinese and ASEAN industrial and value chains.
“We attribute the steady growth in intermediate goods trade to the increasingly deep integration and connectivity between Chinese and ASEAN industrial and value chains.”
Regional trade reaches new heights
Meanwhile, the latest data from Nanning Customs showed that trade between China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and ASEAN reached 248.21 billion yuan in the first seven months of 2026, up 2.5% year-on-year and setting a new record for the period.
Notably, trade with Vietnam rose 3.3% to 183.71 billion yuan. Freight trains linking Guangxi with Vietnam now operate daily, up from the previous three services a week, carrying electronics and machinery southward while transporting tropical fruits such as durians and mangosteens northward, Chinese media reported.
Railway logistics boost cross-border movement
An aerial drone photo shows a container train carrying 1,000 tons of cassava starch bound for Zhengzhou, capital of central China’s Henan Province, ready to depart from the Vientiane South Station on the China-Laos Railway in Vientiane, capital of Laos, Nov. 29, 2025. Photo by Xinhua via AFP
The China-Laos Railway, which began operations in December 2021 and connects Kunming in southwest China with Laos’ capital Vientiane, recorded 17.17 billion yuan in import-export cargo value in the first half of 2026, up 33.8% year on year.
During the period, imports of tropical fruits such as durians, mangosteens, and longans rose 25.8% to 4.22 billion yuan. The railway now transports more than 3,900 types of goods, with freight services reaching markets in 19 countries and territories.
Trade agreements facilitate integration
Another framework supporting regional trade is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a 15-member trade agreement comprising China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and 10 ASEAN countries.
The pact, which took effect in January 2022, has been fully implemented by all 15 signatories since June 2023. Under its rules of origin, materials originating in one member country and used in production in another member country are considered originating materials of the latter.
Xu Yingming, head of the Institute of International Market Research under China’s Ministry of Commerce, said RCEP and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area have reduced transaction costs and facilitated closer integration of regional industrial chains.
“RCEP and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area have reduced transaction costs and facilitated closer integration of regional industrial chains.”
Source: e.vnexpress.net
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
