China-ASEAN trade to double in five years
China-ASEAN trade to double in five years
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Two-way trade between China and the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) is expected to nearly double to US$200
billion in the next five years.
China's President Hu Jintao said on Tuesday at a banquet held
in his honor by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(Kadin)'s China Committee (KIKT), that due to the China-ASEAN
free trade agreement, that will take full effect in 2010, China
had "full confidence in materializing the goal".
The agreement aims at pushing down customs duty between both
sides, which has a combined population base of over 1.7 billion,
to a maximum of 5 percent and removing all investment barriers.
Last year, trade between China and ASEAN grew by 30 percent to
$105.9 billion, maintaining ASEAN's position as China's fifth
largest trading partner after the United States, Hong Kong, Japan
and the European Union.
Hu also said that China's "sustained economic and social
development" -- evidenced by last year's Gross Domestic Product
growth of 9.5 percent -- would benefit all countries in the
world.
"The rapid growth of China's economy has presented new
opportunities ... especially for our neighbors," he said to the
applause of over 600 businessmen in attendance.
Hu said China's 55-years of diplomatic relations with
Indonesia had entered a "new phase of fast, sound and steady
progress" that benefited the "peace, stability and prosperity of
the region and the world at large."
Diplomatic ties with China were frozen in 1967 in the
aftermath of the 1965 attempted coup that was blamed on the
Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Since the normalization of ties
in 1990, trade between China and Indonesia had increased 12 fold
from $1.1 billion in 1990 to $13.48 billion in 2004.
The 2004 trade balance between China and Indonesia, almost
matching the $13.5 billion export-import flow with the United
States, represented a 31 percent growth from 2003's $10.24
billion. Kadin expects two-way trade with China to reach $15
billion this year and $20 billion in 2006.
Hu said the increased prosperity of China's population, which
has had a per capita GDP of over $1,000 since 2003, allowed
"millions of Chinese citizens" to travel to ASEAN as both
tourists and potential investors.
"An increasing number of Chinese enterprises look to ASEAN
countries as favored destinations for investment," said Hu,
adding that China's investment in the Indonesian energy sector
alone had reached $1.2 billion.
According to data from the Indonesian Investment Coordinating
Board, total Chinese investment in Indonesia for the five year
period ending in 2004 reached $6.5 billion.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie said
that a group of Chinese businessmen had committed to invest $10
billion in Indonesia in the near future.
"The planned investments will be in toll roads, electricity,
oil palm plantations and the energy sector," he said.
Head of KIKT Kiki Barki said that relations with China these
days were extremely important. "They have all the money now," he
said. "If we can, we'd rope them over here to Indonesia to
invest." (002)