ASEAN remains China's No. 1 trading partner in 2025

BEIJING, China: The two-way trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries reached 331.05 billion U.S. dollars, up 8.1 percent from a year earlier in the first four months of 2025, data from China's General Administration of Customs showed.

AI Brief

China-ASEAN trade now makes up 17% of China's total foreign trade, led by exports.
Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia are China's top ASEAN trade partners.
Trade growth was supported by RCEP and the new China-ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement (Version 3.0).

The figure, comprising nearly 17 percent of China's total foreign trade, indicated that the highly complementary economies of the two parties form a cornerstone of regional cooperation.

The growth was primarily driven by China's exports to ASEAN countries.

In the January-April period, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia were China's top three trading partners in ASEAN.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership - or RCEP, also helped boost trade between China and ASEAN.

In addition, the successful conclusion of negotiations on Version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) further marks a significant stride toward regional economic integration.