With the goal of intensifying connections to the open markets of South Asia and Southeast Asia, Yunnan province (China) has undertaken an important task in Beijing's efforts to strengthen cooperation and investment.

According to SCMP, China announced that  Yunnan province would be turned into a gateway to the large market of South Asian and Southeast Asian countries. This is a strategy to tighten the relationship among the regions and increase economic competitiveness.

As stated by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Yunnan province took the responsibility  of opening up with full regional integration capacity.

To that end, China pledged additional support to Yunnan province, which borders three Southeast Asian– including Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos – to “accelerate the construction of large international corridors.” through transport, logistics, energy and digital information connections with its southern neighbors.

The NDRC representative said: "We will support Yunnan to expand and consolidate industries with unique advantages  to actively carry out domestic and international industrial transfer."

China has closer bonds with Southeast Asia and South Asia in recent years as its economic relations with the United States have deteriorated. China also stepped up its promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative's globalization strategy in the region while the initiative faced backlash in Europe.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has become China's largest trading partner in recent years. The bloc has emerged as a destination for foreign investors who are diversifying their supply chains outside of China.

ASEAN is a key part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement, which also includes China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

“This region plays an important intermediary role and is an indirect bridge between China and the West,” Mr. Lin had confirmed in an interview with Chinese newspaper The Paper.

Last year, China's trade with ASEAN was $975.3 billion - up from $641.5 billion in 2019 - a 24-fold increase since 2000, according to customs data. 

Mr. Liu said that China had to proactively seek more cooperation opportunities with emerging markets, including Southeast Asia, to compensate for the decline in trade with developed countries.

 China Customs, the country's exports to the European Union and the US decreased by 19.58% and 9.53% respectively in August compared to the same period last year.

According to customs data, China's exports to ASEAN fell 13.25% from a year earlier in August. 

In the first eight months of this year, the total trade value between China and ASEAN was 4.11 trillion yuan (562.3 billion USD), accounting for 15.2% of China's total foreign trade.

During the China-ASEAN expo in September, China signed 470 investment and cooperation projects with ASEAN countries, with a total investment of 487.3 billion yuan (66.6 billion USD), of which More than 65% belong to the manufacturing sector.

Recently, at the ASEAN-China Summit, Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang also highlighted the importance of the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and said that this was possible thanks to the efforts of both sides. , together cultivating strategic trust, mutual support, mutually beneficial cooperation, promoting sustainable development and inclusiveness.