![A view of Nannig in southern China, where the annul China-ASEAN Exposition takes place [VCG]](https://i0.wp.com/usachinatrading.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/A-view-of-Nannig-in-southern-China-where-the-annul-China-ASEAN-Exposition-takes-place-VCG.jpg?resize=525%2C295&ssl=1)
The year of 2020 has recorded the worst public health and economic crisis in a century caused by the COVID-19. In the meantime, the Sino-U.S. trade relation has been rapidly deteriorating, whereas cooperation between China and ASEAN, the south-east Asia block, has kept growing.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a 10-country block home to 650 million people, 9 percent of the world’s population. It has a combined GDP of 2.8 trillion dollars in 2018, comparable to the UK economy’s size. Strengthening industrial cooperation is the inevitable choice for the two sides to achieve mutual benefit and win-win economic cooperation. Xu Ningning, executive president of the China-ASEAN Business Council, told CGTN on the sidelines of the China International Fair for Trade in Services.
“Regardless of whether the Sino-U.S. trade frictions exist or if it intensifies, China and ASEAN will actively carry on industrial cooperation,” he affirmed. The ASEAN-China Free Trade Area, which is bridging China and ASEAN’s closer economic relations, has entered its 10th year. Trade in the area can enjoy benefits such as tariff elimination and guarantee of market access.
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