April 14, the State Council Information Office held a regular press conference on relevant economic data of the first quarter, and the General Administration of Customs introduced the import and export situation in 2025.

The spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs and Director of the Department of Statistics and Analysis, Mr. Lü Daliang, stated that this year, ASEAN continues to hold the position as China's largest trading partner, with imports and exports reaching 1.71 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.1% compared to the same period last year, and the proportion of China's overall foreign trade increased to 16.6%.

China and ASEAN are jointly committed to the development of regional economic integration, with closely connected industrial chains, driving rapid growth in upstream and downstream product imports and exports. In the first quarter, manufactured products accounted for 90.1% of trade between China and ASEAN, among which China's exports of flat panel display modules, automotive parts, and lithium batteries to ASEAN all grew by more than 20%; imports from ASEAN of components for automatic data processing equipment, printed circuits, textile raw materials, and others have maintained growth.

Mr. Lü Daliang stated that the combined population of China and ASEAN countries exceeds 2 billion, accounting for approximately 1/4 of the global population. Their open integration and common development have continuously released market potential, setting a model of cooperation amidst headwinds in globalization. Taking agricultural cooperation as an example, since 2017, ASEAN has continuously maintained its position as China's largest trading partner in agriculture for eight consecutive years. In the first quarter of this year, China's imports of agricultural products from ASEAN amounted to 52.65 billion yuan, increasing by 13.8%, while exports of agricultural products to ASEAN reached 37.92 billion yuan, growing by 1.4%. The complementary advantages of their agricultural products meet diverse needs on both sides.

In the first quarter, China's imports and exports to ASEAN via railway, highway, waterway, and air transport increased by 37%, 23.2%, 5.8%, and 16.4%, respectively. Since the operation of the China-Laos Railway for more than three years, over 50,000 freight trains have been operated cumulatively, achieving seamless integration with the western land-sea new channel, realizing "getting on the train immediately after disembarking from the ship and getting off the train immediately to board the ship."

Currently, the third phase of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area negotiations has been substantially concluded. Both sides will expand mutually beneficial cooperation in emerging fields such as digital economy, green economy, and supply chain connectivity, strengthen mutual integration in standards and rules, and jointly promote trade facilitation and inclusive development.

Reporter Peng Yanqiu, The Paper.

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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7492994248884388392/

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