China-ASEAN sets an example for global industrial supply chain

In recent years， with the acceleration of the construction of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and the full implementation of the RCEP， the industrial cooperation between China and ASEAN has continued to deepen， the flow of people， logistics， information and capital across the region has accelerated， the pace of regional connectivity has accelerated， and regional economic integration and trade and investment facilitation have demonstrated vitality.

\"With the deepening of economic globalization， the economic and trade relations between China and ASEAN have been deepening. The two sides have been each other's largest trading partners for three consecutive years， forming an industrial cooperation pattern of 'you are in me， I am in you'，\" Zhang Shaogang， Vice Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade， pointed out recently at the China-ASEAN Cross- border Supply Chain Innovation and Development Forum.

Secure and smooth the cross-border supply chain

As mentioned previously， China and the ASEAN have been each other's largest trading partners for three consecutive years. The quality of economic and trade cooperation has been upgraded and expanded to a higher level and across a wider area， setting an example for the security， stability and innovative development of the global industrial chain and supply chain.

In his speech， Mr. Sui Guo， Vice Chairman of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， pointed out that the supply chain is an important carrier for the international division of labor and cooperation. In the past three years， after experiencing the barriers created by the pandemic， the international community has started to pay more attention to the stability and security of the supply chain， and has put the construction of an international coordinated， safe and efficient supply chain with innovative development as the top priority of economic development. He suggested that China and ASEAN should focus on building a new pattern and deepening cooperation in the industrial chain and supply chain， and should share new opportunities and jointly build new channels for international land and sea trade. They should work together to enhance trade and investment facilitation with a focus on building a new model.

With the full implementation of the RCEP and the deepening of the Belt and Road Initiative， the process of economic integration within the region is also accelerating， the cooperation on the international industrial chain and supply chain is becoming closer， the development of new business forms and models such as cross-border e-commerce offshore warehouses is accelerating， and the demand for cross-border trade and cross-border logistics in the region is increasing. It has already brought about new and greater requirements for the security and stability of the industrial chain and supply chain and has also brought about new and greater opportunities.

Supply chain is currently the hot word and key word of the global economy. Chinese President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the stability and smooth flow of the global industrial chain and supply chain， and has repeatedly stressed that China will take concrete actions to maintain the security and stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain. Zhang Shaogang also pointed out that at present， China and ASEAN are working together to build a closer China-ASEAN community with a common destiny and version 3.0 of the China- ASEAN Free Trade Area. In this context， in order to build a stable and efficient China-ASEAN industrial chain and supply chain cooperation system， a solid foundation and urgent practical needs must be established. To this end， Zhang suggested the importance of jointly ensuring the safety and smooth flow of cross-border supply chains， steadily promoting the innovation and development of cross-border supply chains， and effectively strengthening the resilience of cross- border supply chain connectivity.

China has maintained its position as Malaysia's largest trading partner， accounting for about 17.1% of Malaysia's total global trade. The total trade volume between the two countries reached RMB 487.13 billion in 2022， marking a significant increase of 15.6% in the same year. Similarly， ASEAN has been China's largest trade market for the past 13 years， and trade between China and ASEAN is expected to exceed USD 100 billion by 2023.

At present， the global economy is in an uncertain stage， which brings about challenges and instability across the entire trade environment， creating obstacles and even disruption to cross-border supply chains. Malaysia， as an important participant in the cross-border supply chain， is also facing the same dilemma， and the disruption of the supply chain has caused the Malaysian economy to face a huge loss of RMB 8.7 billion every year.

In this regard， Malaysian Member of Parliament， former Minister of Transport and Malaysian Chinese Association President Dr. Wee Ka Siong said: \"The affected companies are not sitting still. On the contrary， we are actively looking for new venues and suppliers， and we are also digging deep into the region to strengthen the flexibility of the delivery of key goods. Such initiatives provide Malaysia with an advantage in attracting more foreign investment， which in turn strengthens Malaysia's trading partnerships with China and its other neighboring countries.\"

Innovate the development of China-ASEAN supply chain

In order to support the facilitation of cross- border investment and trade between China and ASEAN and promote the innovation and development of the industrial chain and supply chain between China and ASEAN， the People's Bank of China approved the Financial Reform Plan of the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park in August 2020. Among them， the facilitation of the cross-border two-way flow of RMB， the cross-border interbank financing of RMB， and RMB loans for overseas projects are the three main interbank services. Simplifying the offshore transfer business of RMB NRA accounts and cross-border transfer of domestic assets are two services for enterprise capital upward investment and financing， and these financial innovation businesses are leading nationally.

Mo Fuwen. Deputy Director of Qinzhou Port Area Management Committee of Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone. said that after four years of practice， the scope of implementation of the program has expanded from the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park to the whole of the Guangxi Free Trade Zone， and the source of funds has expanded to all over the world. Until now， the RMB business volume based on financial innovation has exceeded RMB 25 billion and will exceed RMB 30 billion by the end of this year， providing financial strength for promoting the innovation and development of the China- ASEAN cross-border supply chain.

Ruan Rujie， Director General of the Department of Quality， Processing and Market Development of Agricultural Products of Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture， said that under the framework of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Vietnam. Vietnam and China have put a lot of effort into promoting diversified cooperation in all aspects of socio-economic development， including in trade in goods and communication in services.

\"Especially in the field of agricultural products， according to Vietnamese statistics. from January to July of 2023， Vietnam's exports of all goods to China reached USD 30.8 billion， accounting for 15.8% of Vietnam's total exports (USD 195 billion). Vietnam's imports of goods from China reached USD 58.7 billion， accounting for 32.8% of Vietnam's total imports， indicating that China is Vietnam's most important trading partner. China also accounts for 32.8% of Vietnam's total merchandise imports，\" Ruan Rujie pointed out. He suggested that in the future， the two sides can further enhance some multi-functional infrastructure at the border. including packaging， communications， cold chain， customs clearance， inspection and quarantine services， and enhance the value of further promoting trade between the two countries.

This year is also the 20th anniversary of the China-ASEAN partnership. In light of this anniversary， in order to better grasp the opportunities to deepen the development of bilateral relations. Guo Chuanwei. Director of the trade and investment department of the China- ASEAN Center. believes that we should make good use of regional free trade agreements， as these free trade arrangements effectively reduce the tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade and investment of countries in the region， and help enterprises to strengthen and grow the value chain. In order to actively explore new areas of regional cooperation， China and the ASEAN countries are highly complementary in industrial cooperation， and have broad space for cooperation in new business forms such as the digital economy， e-commerce platforms， modern warehousing and logistics， cross-border financial services and overseas warehouses. In addition， Chinese and ASEAN enterprises can use the existing cooperation platform to optimize the allocation of resources in the region， enhance the overall industrial competitiveness， and participate in the international division of labor.

Digital innovation helps facilitate customs clearance

In the first half of this year， the average daily entry and exit of vehicles at border ports in Guangxi reached 2，524， an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year， which included an average daily inspection of more than 150 vehicles at the Friendship Pass， an increase of 55% compared with last year， with all the inspection operations being completed within 24 hours. As of mid-July， more than 1，590 vehicles full of Vietnamese durians， weighing over 30，000 tons， have been diverted to neighboring ports for customs clearance.

Chen Zhu， Deputy Commissioner of Nanning Customs， said that in order to smooth out customs clearance at the port， a two-level analysis and judgment monitoring mechanism of Nanning Customs and affiliated customs authorities has been established to predict abnormal situations such as congestion and detention at the port in advance and coordinate all parties to make emergency preparations. A multi-party interaction is used to establish a cooperation mechanism between customs and local government departments. Border customs should remain in close contact with the local government， encourage the local government to coordinate with the Vietnamese side to grasp the logistics information of the recent customs clearance at the port in a timely manner， coordinate the customs clearance arrangements at the port， and jointly ensure the smooth flow of operations at the border port.

Wang Zhengbo， President of Guangxi Yunduoduo Supply Chain Management Co.， Ltd.， introduced the idea that the platform is positioned as the first one-stop digital cross- border supply chain integrated service platform for ASEAN， which helps facilitate customs clearance and promote the industry to reduce costs and increase efficiency. For example， he said that the previous durian circulation mode had pain points such as different clearance ports， a short preservation time and high logistics costs. After three years of research and development， the platform in China launched technology that can support durian preservation for 30 days for the first time， which extends the durian freshness period from the previous 5 days to 30 days. In addition to bringing consumers a more high-quality durian taste， this technology will also provide more dividends to durian growers， traders and logistics practitioners. Recently， Guangxi has built a smart port at the China-Vietnam border port， which includes the concepts of \"three ones\" and \"two 24 hours\". The aim of \"three ones\" is to build a cross-border special channel， improve a smart information platform and build a classified supervision model. In order to achieve \"two 24 hours\"under the premise of automation and intelligence， the first 24 hours is 24-hour customs clearance， and the aim is that once the smart port is fully built in the future it will be a port that will never stop. The second 24 hours is used to achieve logistics delivery within 24 hours.

On June 26th this year， in the presence of Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh， Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Lan Tianli and Chairman of the People's Committee of Lang Son Province of Vietnam Hu Jin signed a framework agreement on jointly promoting the pilot construction of smart ports in Beijing. In July， the Guangxi government passed the plan for the construction of border smart ports， and the construction of smart ports has already made substantial progress.

\"Once the smart port is completed， the daily traffic volume will be increased by 1.5 times， which is expected to effectively guarantee the demand for efficient customs clearance of cross- border trade ports between China and Vietnam and the expectation for zero inventory of production enterprises. In the meantime， the smart port will also actively promote the rapid development of agricultural production and processing related industries in the ASEAN countries and adapt to the comprehensive coordinated development of the cross-border supply chain and industry chain，\" pointed out Chen Zhu.