Pacts keep China-ASEAN trade running in top gear

CAFTA 3.0 implementation will further boost cooperation. Zhong Nan reports

- 

At the loading area of Cuori Electrical Appliances (Group) Co Ltd in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, five container trucks laden with steam irons and vacuum cleaners set off for Indonesia.

This was the company's fourth shipment to Southeast Asia in August, signaling rising demand for Chinese household appliances across the region.

"With the tariff policies of the United States adding pressure on global manufacturers this year, we have stepped up our overseas expansion, focusing more on Southeast Asian markets," said Li Guangze, Cuori's financial director.

Li said that rising urbanization, a growing middle-income group and the increased spending power of Gen Z consumers — those born between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s — together with stronger demand for affordable and reliable appliances, have lifted the company's sales of irons as well as other small household devices in the ASEAN region, making it one of its fastest-growing export markets.

Reflecting the trend, China's trade with ASEAN, its largest trading partner, rose 9.6 percent on a yearly basis to 5.57 trillion yuan ($781.92 billion) in the first nine months of this year, accounting for 16.6 percent of the country's total, the General Administration of Customs said.