Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
SHANGHAI, May 6 (Xinhua) — In the first quarter of 2025, trade between Shanghai and ASEAN countries increased by 7.1 percent year on year, significantly exceeding the average foreign trade figures of the Chinese metropolis. By the end of 2024, the city’s foreign trade growth was 6.9 percent, according to Shanghai Customs.
Customs officials attribute the continued growth in trade turnover between Shanghai and ASEAN not only to geographical proximity, but also to the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the work of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA).
Customs statistics show growth in trade between Shanghai and ASEAN in all three main forms: regular, duty-free and tolling. In 2024, foreign-invested enterprises and private companies, actively relying on the opportunities of RCEP and CAFTA, played the leading role in the metropolis’s foreign trade.
The complementary production structure and the fact that Shanghai and ASEAN differ in the division of labor have also had a positive impact on bilateral trade and have been recognized as the internal driving force behind its growth. For example, in 2024, Shanghai exported 162.63 billion yuan (US$1 is about 7.2 yuan) worth of machinery and electronics products to ASEAN countries, while importing 166.55 billion yuan worth of similar products. However, while the bulk of exports were microchips, mobile phones, and electrical control equipment, significant growth was observed in imports of semiconductor machinery equipment and flat-panel displays. Machinery and electronics products accounted for over 60 percent of the trade turnover between Shanghai and ASEAN.
Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia were Shanghai’s largest trading partners among ASEAN countries. As of 2024, their share in trade turnover between the parties reached 62.5 percent.
The total bilateral trade volume last year was 582.79 billion yuan, accounting for 13.7 percent of Shanghai’s total foreign trade, up 0.7 percentage points from 2023 and making ASEAN the city’s second-largest trading partner after the EU. -0-