New bright spots shine in pressured trade scene

Other factors include the acceleration in new forms of foreign trade such as cross-border e-commerce and stronger efforts made to attract and utilize foreign investment in key fields.

Despite facing pressures from deglobalization sentiment, China and the ASEAN "still have much room for further enhancement of trade and economic ties", said Ong Tee Keat, president of Belt and Road Initiative Caucus for Asia Pacific based in Malaysia.

While dismissing some pessimistic views on the Chinese economy propagated by some Western organizations, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Pakistan-China Institute, said, "China's growth has not been as fast as it was in the past 40 years, but it is still progressing very fast."

After years of development, China now boosts a huge market for foreign companies and has become a leader of innovation in high-tech development, especially in emerging fields like EVs, climate change, cyberspace and artificial intelligence, he said.

He further noted the marked shift in China's exports, saying the country is now exporting more high-tech products.

Referring to moves by some countries to seek "de-risking" or decoupling from China, Siyabonga Cyprian Cwele, South African ambassador to China, said: "No one can afford to ignore the growing importance of the Chinese economy, the world's second-largest economy.

"With a very open economy, China is fully embracing globalization. I don't think any smart economic agent or businessman will ever do that (decouple from China) … It is very unlikely that any country can successfully do that."

Looking ahead, he said he sees huge growth potential in economic and trade cooperation between South Africa and China, especially in the fields of e-commerce, scientific innovation and green development.