China-ASEAN Trade Surpasses $1 Trillion; Seven Ministries Target 60 Trillion Yuan Consumer Market
China’s bilateral trade with ASEAN surpassed $1 trillion for the first time in 2025, reaching $1.05 trillion with 7.4% year-on-year growth, according to Xinhua News. The milestone was announced at a State Council Information Office press conference on September 1, alongside a separate initiative by seven government departments to expand consumer goods consumption toward a 60 trillion yuan retail market by 2030.
Historic Trade Milestone
Commerce Vice Minister Yan Dong announced at the press conference that China has maintained its position as ASEAN’s largest trading partner for 17 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China’s largest trading partner for six consecutive years. Trade momentum has accelerated further in 2026, with January-July bilateral trade reaching $744.41 billion—up 24.7% year-on-year and accounting for 21.8% of China’s total foreign trade during the period.
The full press conference transcript reveals deeper granularity in the trade relationship. Wang Liping, Director of the Ministry of Commerce’s Asian Affairs Department, noted that bilateral trade with Vietnam approached $300 billion and with Malaysia approached $200 billion in 2025. Trade with Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore each exceeded $100 billion.
Infrastructure cooperation has been a key driver of this growth. The Malaysia East Coast Rail Link project has surpassed 94% completion, Indonesia’s Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway has carried over 15 million cumulative passengers, and the China-Laos 500kV interconnection project has officially launched. Cumulative two-way investment between China and ASEAN has exceeded $515 billion.
Pinglu Canal: A New Economic Artery
Guangxi Vice Chairman Lu Xin’ning highlighted the Pinglu Canal as a transformative infrastructure project set to reshape regional connectivity. The 134.2-kilometer canal, expected to open to navigation before the 23rd China-ASEAN Expo in September, is the first river-to-sea canal built since the founding of New China.
“The Pinglu Canal has opened up a two-way ‘economic artery,’” Lu said. “Once the canal opens, the shipping distance between China’s southwestern hinterland and ASEAN will be shortened by 560 kilometers, and logistics costs will be reduced by 18%-30%.” The canal can accommodate 5,000-ton vessels and is the highest-navigation-grade river-sea connecting canal in the world.
FTA 3.0 and Regional Integration
Lin Honghong, Vice Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, emphasized that 2026 marks a pivotal year for China-ASEAN relations—the 5th anniversary of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the starting year of the Action Plan (2026-2030), and a critical period for implementing the FTA 3.0 upgrade protocol signed in October 2025.
The 23rd China-ASEAN Expo, scheduled for September 17-21 in Nanning, will feature Timor-Leste as a co-organizer for the first time, marking the first gathering of all 11 ASEAN countries. The exhibition area has expanded to 170,000 square meters with a new focus on AI applications and digital economy.
Consumer Expansion: A 60 Trillion Yuan Ambition
On August 31, seven government departments led by the Ministry of Commerce issued the “Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Expansion and Upgrading of Consumer Goods Consumption,” outlining 20 specific measures as reported by CNR. The policy targets social retail sales of approximately 60 trillion yuan by 2030 and aims to cultivate green, smart, and health consumption as ten-trillion-yuan markets.
The policy document builds on a strong baseline: 2025 social retail sales exceeded 50 trillion yuan for the first time, passenger car retail sales reached 23.744 million units, and home appliance and communications equipment retail sales each surpassed 1 trillion yuan.
Four-Pronged Strategy
The policy deploys measures across four key areas. First, large-ticket durable goods—particularly automobiles—receive priority attention, with measures to optimize purchase restrictions, develop the auto aftermarket, and expand charging infrastructure. Second, daily-use goods will see quality upgrades across food, beverages, textiles, and sporting goods. Third, specialty products target silver-haired consumers, infants and children, and guochao (national trend) brands. Fourth, upgraded consumption focuses on green, smart, and health products.
Hong Yong, Associate Researcher at the Ministry of Commerce Research Institute, told Xinhua that these targets are grounded in solid data. “From a trend perspective, green, smart, and health consumption are on the eve of explosive growth,” he said. “The ten-trillion-yuan market scale is a forward-looking judgment based on consumption structure upgrading and industrial technology breakthroughs.”
Market Implications
Fu Yifu, Special Analyst at SuShang Bank, described the policy as providing a “navigation map” for enterprises and investors. “The policy for the first time explicitly designates green, smart, and health consumption as ten-trillion-yuan cultivation directions,” Fu said in an analysis published by Jiemian News. “This means subsequent fiscal, tax, and standards supporting policies will focus on these three directions.”
The automotive sector is expected to be a primary beneficiary. As Gasgoo Auto reported, the policy includes measures to optimize vehicle purchase restrictions, develop the auto aftermarket, and expand new energy vehicle charging infrastructure—moves that could benefit industry leaders across the EV supply chain.
What’s Next
Both developments signal China’s dual-track economic strategy: deepening regional integration through trade and infrastructure while stimulating domestic consumption to sustain growth. The upcoming China-ASEAN Expo will serve as a platform to showcase these initiatives, with the Pinglu Canal’s opening expected to further accelerate regional economic connectivity.
For the consumer policy, the focus now shifts to implementation. Analysts expect supporting fiscal, tax, and standards measures to follow, potentially reshaping competitive dynamics across the automotive, home appliance, AI, and health product sectors. As Fu Yifu noted, “The industry trends are clear, and leading enterprises deserve long-term attention.”