Trade essential for regional integration

While President Xi Jinping is on a state visit to Laos after attending the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and visiting Vietnam, Premier Li Keqiang is in the Philippines to take part in a series of high-level meetings across five days starting Sunday, including the 20th China-ASEAN (10+1) leaders' meeting and the 20th ASEAN-China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (10+3) leaders' meeting, and the 12th East Asia Summit. The senior leaders' diplomatic moves, the first after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, highlight the great importance China attaches to its Southeast Asian neighbors.

As the first Chinese premier to visit Manila in a decade, Li will hold talks with Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, which holds the APEC chair this year.

That China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are expected to formulate a China-ASEAN 2030 vision and upgrade the existing free trade agreement will be watched closely. The protocol on upgrading the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, which was agreed last July, has further boosted economic and trade development, and optimized the distribution of resources within the FTA framework.