ASEAN becomes Wuhan's second-largest trade partner

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has emerged as Wuhan's second-largest trade partner, with the bilateral foreign trade growing by 83.14 percent year on year to hit 17.23 billion yuan in the first five months of 2021, data from the Wuhan Customs showed.

During China's 13th Five -Year Plan period (2016–2020), Wuhan saw its foreign trade with ASEAN reach 19.53 billion U.S. dollars, a 36-percent increase from the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011–2015).

The city’s exports to ASEAN countries climbed by 40 percent year on year to 11.23 billion U.S. dollars during the period, while its imports from ASEAN countries soared by 118.4 percent to 8.3 billion U.S. dollars.

Wuhan’s main trading partners are Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, accounting for more than 97 percent of the city’s foreign trade with the 10-member ASEAN.

As of now, ASEAN countries have established 393 foreign-invested enterprises in Wuhan, with a total investment of over 4.4 billion U.S. dollars. It covers the fields of manufacturing, real estate, construction, leasing and business services, of which manufacturing industry contributes 40 percent to the total investment.

By the end of 2020, Wuhan-based enterprises had rolled out 74 investment projects in 9 member counties of ASEAN (except Brunei), with a total investment of 5.293 billion U.S. dollars. The main types of investment cooperation included civil construction, equipment manufacturing as well as production and supply of electric power and heat power.