Asean and our neighbouring countries now drifting closer to China

Deepseek says that in 2023 Asean countries exported goods worth $416 billion to China and imported goods worth $495.7 billion from them

Last Tuesday, the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and China gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with a view to enhance economic co-operation. The joint announcement after the Asean-GCC-China summit talked of, besides many other issues, promoting free trade, negotiations for a Asean-China Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade and a China-GCC free trade agreement. Such conferences and announcements are not uncommon. However, it is remarkable that the smaller member countries of Asean prioritize the benefits of interdependence, keeping aside many differences between them.

 

Asean is a grouping of Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia,