by Zheng Anguang
BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Washington's intention to sow discord between China and Southeast Asian countries will be in vain
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are beginning to harvest tangible economic benefits two decades after a dialogue mechanism between the two was initiated.
A much-anticipated free trade area (FTA) between China and the regional bloc was formally launched in early 2010, which, with a $4.5 trillion trade volume, ranks as the world's third largest trade zone. The bilateral trade value in the first half of this year reached $136.5 billion, an increase of 55 percent year on year, and the figure for the full year is expected to total $250 billion.
Amid the global financial crisis, and at a time when global economic recovery still remains a faint prospect, the enormous progress China and the ASEAN countries have achieved in the economic and trade field will undoubtedly help dissipate any clouds over their economic development.
With the establishment of such an FTA on a mutually beneficial basis, the structure of China-ASEAN economic ties has also changed to the latter's advantage. The 10-member bloc is now playing a different role than in the past, as China's robust demands for energy and raw materials make China and ASEAN counties economically complementary. In the first half of this year, China's imports from the Southeast Asian Nations increased 64 percent on the same period last year, and its exports to ASEAN increased 45 percent for the period year on year.
