The State Council Information Office held a press conference on the upcoming China-ASEAN Expo in Beijing.

China-ASEAN trade up 24.7 percent in first 7 months to hit US$744 billion, data shows ahead of 23rd CAEXPO in Guangxi

(Global Times/BRNN) --The 23rd China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) will be held in Nanning, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, from September 17 to 21.
Under the theme “CAFTA 3.0 Opportunities, Better Life”, the event will focus on free trade area development and regional high-quality growth, while showcasing new achievements in China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation, an official from China’s Ministry of Commerce said at a press briefing .
Against this backdrop, China-ASEAN economic ties have continued to deepen, with bilateral trade reaching new heights.  According to the official, China and ASEAN bilateral trade surpassed the US$1 trillion mark for the first time in 2025, reaching US$1.05 trillion, the CCTV News reported.
The figure marked a year-on-year increase of 7.4 percent, underscoring the continued expansion of economic ties between China and the regional bloc. China has remained ASEAN’s largest trading partner for 17 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China’s largest trading partner for six consecutive years, per the CCTV News.
From January to July of this year, China-ASEAN trade totaled US$744.41 billion, up 24.7 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 21.8 percent of China’s total foreign trade during the period, the official said.
These latest figures indicate that trade and economic ties between the two massive economies have continued to advance in step with the formal signing of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 (CAFTA 3.0) Upgrade Protocol, a Chinese expert said. Meanwhile, the year 2026 marks the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
China-ASEAN partnership has become a model of mutually beneficial cooperation between economies at different stages of development, with market forces and government guidance working in tandem, Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
As global trade uncertainty continues to rise, China and the ASEAN member states have maintained strong momentum in commercial and investment cooperation, underscoring a deliberate and pragmatic choice in favor of free trade and economic globalisation, Zhou said.
The analyst attributed the growth to a shared commitment to open markets and a more stable institutional framework. “This has helped build confidence among businesses and market participants, even as the international trade environment becomes more complex,” he said.
According to Zhou, the two sides have also made notable progress in trade complementarity. By leveraging their different positions in global and regional industrial chains, China and ASEAN have strengthened cooperation in manufacturing, supply chains, and market access.
This collaboration has not only supported economic growth and industrial upgrading on both sides, but also helped meet rising consumer demand and unlock new development potential, he noted.
At the press conference, officials also highlighted steady progress in investment cooperation and major infrastructure projects. By July 2026, cumulative bilateral investment between China and ASEAN, along with Chinese enterprises’ completed engineering contract revenue in ASEAN, had both exceeded US$515 billion.

(Latest Update September 2, 2026)