China-ASEAN Machinery Industry Cooperation Rapid Growth Still Extends Space

“With the formal establishment and launch of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area on January 1, 2010, the economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN showed a good momentum of development. From January to June, the economic and trade cooperation between the machinery industry increased significantly. Since zero tariffs were implemented, Both trade and investment have increased substantially,” Lu Renqi, executive vice president of the China Machinery Industry Federation, said at the China-ASEAN Industry Cooperation Conference held here.

According to Lu Renqi, in the past 60 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the overall strength of the Chinese machinery industry has grown rapidly, and its status in the entire industry has continuously improved. It has become one of the pillar industries of the national economy. Affected by the international financial crisis in 2009, the major economic indicators of China's machinery industry fell to the lowest levels in recent years at the beginning of the year, but with the government's relevant measures and the introduction of economic stimulus policies, the machinery industry has gradually shown signs of recovery, especially for automobiles and Agricultural machinery and other industries benefited from the rapid growth of national support policies. In 2009, the major economic indicators of the machinery industry hit a record high.

Relevant data show that the global financial crisis in 2009 caused the global economy to shrink. China's machinery and products import and export volume fell by 13.85% compared with 2008, and the decline in exports was greater than the decline in imports. However, the volume of trade between China and ASEAN has not only declined, but also increased by 9% in terms of mechanical products. The proportion of total trade volume increased from 11% in 2008 to 13.32%.

Although the economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN in the machinery industry has considerable development, there is room for further development, but there are also some issues that deserve attention and improvement. Lu Renqi put forward the following suggestions on strengthening the docking work of the Machinery Industry Association, using various channels and opportunities to expand the promotion of the preferential policies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (FTA); organizing training courses for enterprises and related organizations to introduce the rules of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area And the prospects of development; the associations of the two sides will often conduct dialogues and exchange information with each other under the guidance of the China-ASEAN Business Council, and assist both the supply and demand sides in matching and effective investment; the Chinese Machinery Industry Association will constrain the business through internal meetings, publications, general elections and other channels. Right competition will guide enterprises to carry out foreign economic and trade activities in an orderly manner, respecting each other’s trade methods and the rules and regulations of local chambers of commerce; Chinese Machinery Association organizes ASEAN countries’ counterparts and users to visit Chinese companies’ production sites to learn about the construction of product standards and systems. Quality certification system; both associations called on their respective governments to implement RMB settlement as soon as possible and maintain the same fee ratio as other currencies.

Lu Renqi said that China’s machinery products have a certain degree of competitiveness for ASEAN and have considerable advantages, and are also important industries for balancing trade between China and ASEAN. The types, grades and cost-effectiveness of products are more suitable for ASEAN countries. Mechanical products should be an important area for China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation.