Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

As the annual "Summer Davos" forum was held in the beautiful seaside city of Dalian last week, perhaps the one matter which lingered in the minds of most participants was the increasing worry over the growth of the Chinese economy, and by extension the health of the world economy.

Thus it came as no surprise that in his keynote speech Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, launched straight into addressing this concern, assuring the jittery audience that the Chinese economy "is moving in a steady way, and its fundamentals are sound."

Li called on the world community to "take a clear-cut stand against all forms of protectionism," and vowed to continue to encourage foreign investments in China. He also used the "upgrading" of the ASEAN-China free trade agreement (FTA) to show China's commitment to open "wider to the outside world."

When meeting senior business executives before the forum, Li also stressed the need to develop further the service industry, and to encourage more Chinese companies to expand their business overseas.

Indeed, the upgrading of the ASEAN-China FTA was the centerpiece of Li's other speech at the annual China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning slightly in early September. Reaffirming ASEAN as China's priority in outbound investment, he called for active expansion of the imports of ASEAN goods into China, and ASEAN companies to invest and start business in China.

Economic aspects have long predominated in ASEAN-China and often "smooth out" differences in other dimensions of their interactions, giving rise to a generally cordial relationship.

ASEAN is scheduled to emerge as an economic community with essentially zero tariffs on goods and services, as well as free flow of capital and skilled labor, in just over a year from now. It would be an ideal target market for Chinese businesses to expand into, taking advantage of the tariff-free arrangements in the region.

But here are two suggestions for potential Chinese businesses coming to ASEAN countries. First, in addition to large, mainly State-owned Chinese companies undertaking infrastructure construction and extraction of resources in ASEAN countries, which remain crucial commitments, more Chinese small and medium enterprises should also be encouraged to venture into ASEAN countries. 

Those enterprises that do enter the ASEAN market should think of not just selling goods. They should also firmly plant roots, for example by setting up factories to process raw materials which are more readily available in ASEAN countries. These can be turned into value-added goods that can then be sold both within ASEAN and also to China. 

This makes good business and environmental sense, as it lowers bulky transportation costs and energy consumption and improves the people-to-people exchanges, which can only be of benefits to the ASEAN-China relations.

Some ASEAN countries, such as Singapore and Malaysia, possess more than a century or two of vast servicing experience under their belts, catering to the needs of traders and travelers who came from all around the world to make a fortune in this region. Their expertise in banking, economic law, hospitality and healthcare is internationally recognized to be on par with the best in the world.

China can do well by relaxing the entry hurdles and perhaps even proactively providing various incentives for them to set up shops in China, serving the needs of an increasingly outward-looking Chinese population and industry. The ubiquitous Shangri-La hotels in China and beyond serve as one such fine example, uplifting the standards of the hospitality industry in China. 

These ASEAN service providers could in turn learn firsthand how to suit the needs and demands of their Chinese clientele, and could even act as a conduit for eventual Chinese investments into ASEAN countries.

A deepened economic mutual dependence between China and ASEAN countries is both natural and crucial, not the least for maintaining the precious regional peace which is at times challenged. In this respect and at these times of economic uncertainty, it is especially timely to heed Li's call to further strengthen ties and cooperation for common growth.

The author is a senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn