China-ASEAN Monitor

Photo Credit: Yahoo News Singapore

 

Economy, Investment and Trade

China and Indonesia to further cooperation on BRI
(10 February 2018) China is working closely with Indonesia in intensifying its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which helps promote more cooperation in key areas such as infrastructure and inject new force into the development of China’s relations with Indonesia. Given China’s strong economic ties with Indonesia, the East Asian nation has always been Indonesia’s largest trading partner and investments between both nations are increasing every year. The two-way trade between China-Indonesia has experienced an increase of 17 percent, which saw trade amounting to US$63.4 billion last year (2017) compared to 2016, which recorded US$52 billion. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that the economic ties between the two countries are highly complementary and there is a huge potential for economic and trade cooperation.
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Rise of textile exports to China
(12 February 2018) Vietnam remains a big importer of textile feedstock and accessories from China but their export is on the rise too. According to the Viet Nam Textile & Apparel Association (Vitas), textile exports to China have been rising steadily, rising up from US$2.2 billion in 2015 to US$3.2 billion in 2017 and they see this as a promising sign for the industry. Last year, Vietnam imports from China included over US$6 billion worth of silk, US$2 billion worth of leather and US$800 million worth of threads while Vietnam textile and garment exports around the world were worth US$31 billion last year.
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Laos benefits from Chinese dry-processing cement project
(9 February 2018) A Chinese-invested new dry-processing cement project has started operations in Laos’s capital city Vientiane. On behalf of the provincial government, Governor of Vientiane province Vidong Xaiason, expressed his heartfelt gratitude towards the completion and operation of the plant and wished them success in the years to come.
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Asean e-commerce set to improve thanks to Chinese investment
(8 February 2018) The entry of Chinese tech giants is likely to bring capital and know-how into the Asean e-commerce sector. Despite 23 percent compounded annual growth over the past five years, Global research firm Credit Suisse highlighted that business-to-consumer e-tailing penetration is less than 2 percent of total retail sales in South East Asia. Citing the example of Malaysia’s digital free trade zone joint project with Alibaba, Credit Suisse said the entry of tech giants could serve as catalysts to drive faster policy implementation by South East Asian governments. The research firm noted that countries with less physical infrastructure constraints such as Malaysia and Thailand are better positioned to benefit from import of foreign logistics know-how.
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