00:00Amid shifting global dynamics and the escalating U.S.-China trade war,
00:05the region finds itself navigating uncertain waters.
00:09Chi Fu Lin, President of the China Institute for Reform and Development,
00:13shares what lies ahead for ASEAN-China relations.
00:19Currently, the U.S. reciprocal tariff is obviously shocking the China-ASEAN trade very severely.
00:26And now I think there is a strategic choice faced in front of China and ASEAN.
00:33And first, as we know, many ASEAN member states have chosen to negotiate with the U.S. bilaterally.
00:40But there is a cooperation mechanism within ASEAN, and there are also mechanisms in RCEP,
00:46the ASEAN-plus-1 and ASEAN-plus-3 agreements.
00:49And we should form a collective response to the U.S. tariff threat.
00:55And we have a more regulated response, more regulated mechanism.
01:00And second point is that the trade of ASEAN with the United States accounts for around 15% of ASEAN's total trade,
01:08which is – but ASEAN's trade with China is much higher than its trade with the U.S.
01:14and therefore we need to collectively respond to the U.S. challenge with the U.S. market
01:21and by forming a common market in the region between China and ASEAN.
01:27Meanwhile, ASEAN-China Center Secretary-General Xi Zhongjun
01:31emphasized that China relations with the region are not defined by China-U.S. rivalry,
01:37noting that the partnership with member states has continued to grow regardless.
01:40When China and ASEAN established dialogue relations in 1991,
01:47the trade volume was $800 million U.S. dollars.
02:00Now, by 2024, the trade volume is almost $1 trillion U.S. dollars.
02:07So, during these years, the U.S.-China relations have ups and downs.
02:15So, that means that the relationship, the trade relationship between China and ASEAN countries
02:24are not closely linked to U.S.-China relationship.
02:29Politically speaking, China and ASEAN countries, they started their dialogue relationship in 1991,
02:39then lifted to a strategic relationship, then to a comprehensive strategic relationship.
02:46These are not really affected by the U.S.-China relations.
02:50Zhongjun added that with ASEAN strength,
02:54it has the capacity to navigate and mediate challenges arising from major power rivalry.
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