Hello and welcome to World Today.
I'm Ding Heng in Beijing.
Coming up, China and ASEAN sign an upgraded version of their free trade pact.
China's foreign minister Wang Yi calls on Washington and Beijing to meet each other halfway to solve disputes.
President Donald Trump wins praises in Japan without major breakthrough in trade negotiations.
And we will take a look at how money is being poured into China's robotics industry amid accelerating commercialization.
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you can download our podcast by searching World Today.
China and ASEAN have upgraded their free trade agreement on the sidelines of the 28th China-ASEAN Summit held in the city of Kuala Lumpur.
The new 3.0 version of the deal will broaden collaboration in areas such as infrastructure,
digital and green transition, trade facilitation and people-to-people exchanges.
Chinese Premier Li Jiang said this particular upgrade is harrowing a new opportunity to expand bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
He urged both sides to promote steady economic growth by meeting each other's needs and deepening collaboration.
In recent years, China and ASEAN have become each other's biggest trading partner.
two-way trade reached $785 billion in the first nine months of 2025.
So joining us now on the line is Dr. Joe Ming,
Senior Research Fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Okay, so first of all,
what does this particular upgrade mean to China and ASEAN, respectively speaking?