Trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) surpassed the R$5.4 trillion mark for the first time in 2025 and will maintain a strong pace of expansion in 2026. Growth occurs in parallel with the deepening of trade agreements, investments and production chains that bring the economies of China and Southeast Asia closer together.
The most recent data was presented this Tuesday (1st), in Beijing, by Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce, Yan Dong, during a press conference on economic and trade cooperation between China and Asean and preparations for the 23rd China-Asean Expo (Caexpo) and the 23rd China-Asean Business and Investment Summit (Cabis).
“In 2025, bilateral trade between China and Asean surpassed the R$5 trillion mark for the first time, reaching approximately R$5.4 trillion, an increase of 7.4% compared to the previous year,” said Yan.
Expansion accelerated even further this year. According to the vice minister, between January and July 2026, bilateral trade reached approximately R$3.84 trillion, an increase of 24.7% compared to the same period in 2025. Asean accounted for 21.8% of China’s total foreign trade in the period.
According to data presented by Beijing, China has been Asean’s largest trading partner for 17 consecutive years, while the bloc has ranked first among Chinese trading partners for six consecutive years.
Asean currently brings together 11 countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. The bloc represents one of the main economic and industrial centers in Asia.
For China, Southeast Asian countries represent a large consumer market and important partners for industrial production. For Asean, the Chinese market offers demand for its exports, in addition to machinery, equipment, components and investments.
One of the most important aspects of this relationship is the integration of production chains. In the first half of 2026, trade in intermediate goods — such as parts, components and production inputs — between China and Asean grew by 24.5%, reaching 2.86 trillion yuan and representing approximately two-thirds of bilateral trade.
According to China’s General Administration of Customs, the increase reflects the deepening of integration and connectivity between the two sides’ industrial and value chains.
In practice, this means that the commercial relationship increasingly involves parts, components and raw materials that cross borders during different stages of production, connecting Chinese and Southeast Asian factories.
The data helps to show that the expansion is not limited to exports of finished products. China and Asean are increasingly connected by production networks that cross different countries.
Production chains and ACFTA 3.0
This integration gained a new instrument in October 2025, when China and Asean signed the China-Asean Free Trade Area Update Protocol, known as ACFTA 3.0.
The first free trade agreement between the parties was signed in 2002 and came into force in 2010. The new update expands the partnership to areas that go beyond reducing tariffs, including the digital economy, green economy, standards and production and supply chains.
According to Yan Dong, the new agreement “extends bilateral free trade cooperation and regional economic integration to emerging areas, such as the digital economy, the green economy, standards and production and supply chains”.
The update follows changes in the regional economy itself, in which e-commerce, digital technologies, clean energy and the security of production chains have become increasingly important.
ACFTA 3.0 is embedded within a broader regional trade framework. China and Asean countries are also part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which brings together 15 Asia-Pacific economies, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
In force since 2022, the agreement established common rules to facilitate trade and the integration of production chains.
The combination of these mechanisms helps to consolidate an economic integration network in which products, components and investments circulate between different Asian economies. The growth of the relationship also appears in investments and business projects.
According to Yan Dong, by July 2026, both the accumulated bilateral investment between China and Asean and the accumulated volume of project business contracted by Chinese companies in the bloc’s countries exceeded R$2.65 trillion in values converted at the current exchange rate.
The data brings together two different dimensions of economic cooperation — investments from both sides and projects contracted by Chinese companies — and shows that the relationship is not limited to trade in goods.
The dispute between China and the United States
The deepening of the China-Asean relationship comes at a time of growing economic dispute between Beijing and Washington.
The tariffs and protectionist measures adopted by the United States contributed to accelerating the reorganization of global production chains. Countries in Southeast Asia began to receive new factories and investments from companies seeking to diversify their production. In this context, regional integration gains importance.
But this does not mean that Asean is choosing between China and the United States. The bloc maintains economic relations with the two largest economies in the world and seeks to preserve its own position in the face of competition between the great powers.
For Southeast Asian countries, expanding trade with China could represent new economic opportunities without necessarily meaning a break with Washington. Economic expansion also coexists with political divergences.
China and some Asean countries have territorial disputes in the South China Sea, especially with the Philippines and Vietnam. Issues of sovereignty and security continue to be sources of tension.
Despite this, conflicts did not impede the growth of trade and investment, showing that economic interdependence can advance even in the midst of strategic divergences.
Nanning prepares the next stage: an expanding strategic relationship
The next major economic meeting between the two sides will take place in Nanning, capital of southern China’s Guangxi autonomous region. Between September 17 and 21, the city will host the 23rd China-Asean Expo and the 23rd China-Asean Business and Investment Summit.
According to information released this Tuesday, the fair will feature more than 2,200 Chinese companies and almost a thousand companies from Asean. For the first time, there will be an area dedicated to the technological and application needs of the bloc’s countries, with the aim of bringing Chinese companies closer to the specific demands of Southeast Asian markets.
Nanning’s location is strategic. Guangxi shares a land border with Vietnam and serves as one of China’s main gateways to Southeast Asia. The meeting comes five years after the establishment of the China-Asean Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The R$5.4 trillion milestone reached in 2025 is just the most visible part of an economic relationship that has been gaining new dimensions.
In the first seven months of 2026, trade grew by almost 25%, while both sides advanced in updating the free trade agreement and expanded cooperation in technology, green economy and production chains. The expansion of investments and business projects reinforces this trend.
At the same time, the bloc seeks to preserve its autonomy and maintain diversified relations amid the dispute between the great powers.
The figures presented in Beijing thus indicate that economic integration between China and Southeast Asia continues to advance — and could play an important role in reorganizing trade and production chains in Asia in the coming years.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
