How will the ASEAN Community influence China?

EastAsiaformeditsfirstcross-nationunion,theASEANCommunity,attheturnofthenewyear,whichisexpectedtoleadtheregiontoanewstageofintegrationandgrowth.

The10membersoftheAssociationofSoutheastAsianNations(ASEAN)officiallylaunchedthecommunityonThursday,formingablocof600millionpeoplesharingapolitical,securityandeconomicroof.

WithatotalGDPofnearly2.6trillionU.S.dollars,theseventhglobally,thecommunityaimstocreateacompetitivesinglemarketwithfreeflowofgoods,services,investmentcapitalandskilledlabor.Itisexpectedtogrowintotheworld'sfourthbiggesteconomyby2030,accordingtomediareports.

InfluencesonChina

TheChineseForeignMinistrywelcomedtheestablishmentofthecommunity,callingita"significantmilestone"inASEAN'sintegration.

"AsagoodfriendandpartnerofASEAN,ChinaisconfidentaboutASEAN'sdevelopmentinthefuture,andwishestheASEANCommunitysuccess,"theministry'sspokesmanLuKangsaidatapressconference.

Despiteskepticismofatruesingleeconomicentity,expertsexpectthecommunitytobringChina-ASEANcooperationcloserandpromoteregionalintegrationaswellasboostmembers'economicgrowth.

ThecommunitywillcertainlyinjectimpetusfortheupgradingoftheASEAN-ChinaFreeTradeArea(FTA)andthenegotiationoftheRegionalComprehensiveEconomicPartnership,saidWeiLing,directorofAsianstudiesinstituteattheChinaForeignAffairsUniversity.

ChinahasbeentheASEAN'slargesttradepartner,andASEANhasbeenChina'sthirdlargestpartnersincetheFTA'slaunchin2010.Mutualtradevolumehasaddeduptomorethan370billionU.S.dollarsinthefirst10monthsof2015,andtheannualtradeisexpectedtoreach1trillionU.S.dollarsby2020.

Thetwolastmonthinkedaprotocolondeepenedcooperationonbilateraltrade.AsasupplementtotheoriginalagreementoftheASEAN-ChinaFTA,theprotocolcoversawiderangesuchastradeingoods,services,investmentandtechnologicalcooperation.

AunifiedandsingleASEANmarketwillprovidehugeopportunitiesforChina,JapanandtheRepublicofKorea,accordingtoWei.Oncefullycompleted,thecommunitywilloptimizethelayoutofAsia'strade,financeandmanufacturingindustries,bringinggoodtotheworldasawhole.

ThecommunitywillbetteractivatetheimplementationofChineseinitiativessuchastheBeltandRoad,whichhavesynergizedwellwithASEAN'sdevelopmentandintegrationstrategies.

TheASEANintegrationraiseshugedemandsfortransportandinfrastructureimprovement,whichChina,withabundantfundsandtechnologies,cancaterto,saidWei.

TheBeltandRoadinitiativecouldhelppromoteASEAN'sdevelopmentbyimprovinginfrastructurethroughouttheregionbothonlandandatsea,saidKaviChongkittavorn,seniorfellowattheInstituteofSecurityandInternationalStudiesatChulalongkornUniversityofThailand.

ChinaalsosetuptheSilkRoadFundandspearheadedtheestablishmentoftheAsianInfrastructureInvestmentBank(AIIB),bothexpectedtofinanceconnectivityprojects.

ASEANnationswillundoubtedlyunifysomeeconomicpolicieswithinthecommunityandobjectivelyreducebarriersfortheentryofChineseinvestment,observersbelieve.

UndertheBelt&RoadinitiativeandthesupportofAIIB,WeiforecastsanewwaveofgrowthofChina'sindustrialinvestmentinASEANcountries.

ThemergercouldalsohelptheChineseyuanflowintotheregion,accordingtoZhouYongsheng,aninternationalrelationsprofessoratChinaForeignAffairsUniversity.

Strongsupporter

ChinasaiditwillcontinuetofirmlysupportASEAN'sintegration,andiswillingtomakejointeffortswithASEANcountriestobuildamoreclosely-relatedcommunityofcommondestinyforChinaandASEAN.

Despiteahigh-degreeofinter-dependencewithinthecommunity,obstaclesstillremaininthewayofcompleteintegration.

ASEANisperhapsoneofthemostdiverseregionalgroupingsintheworld,intermsofbotheconomicdevelopmentandpolitical,ethnic,religiousandculturalbackgrounds,accordingtoobservers.

ThereisaconspicuousdividebetweenthesixolderandricherASEANmemberssuchasSingaporeandfournewerandpoorermembers,namely,Cambodia,Laos,MyanmarandVietnam.

ChenQiye,associateprofessorattheLeeKuanYewSchoolofPublicPolicyinSingapore,deemsthatit'sagoodchanceforChinatoadvocatetheBeltandRoadinitiativeinthenations,helpingthemembersnarrowdevelopmentgapsforintegrationwhileoptimizingitsowneconomicstructure.

Seizingtheopportunityofthe25thanniversaryfortheestablishmentofChina-ASEANdialoguerelationsin2016,expertssuggestChinaexpandmutualpoliticaltrustbysigningaseriesoffriendlyandcooperationtreatieswiththegroup.

Chinaissupposedtotaketheleadtopushformorecooperationmechanismswiththecommunityandprovidemorepublicservicegoodsforinnovationsinanti-terrorism,environmentalprotectionandhealthcare,accordingtoglobalstrategyresearcherZhouFangye.

ChinashouldalsocontinuetopromotepeacefulbilateralnegotiationswithrelatedpartiesconcerningtheSouthChinaSeaissuesandseektomaintainregionalstabilityanddevelopment,saidZhouYongsheng.