It’s the second upgrade of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) that was first inked in 2002 - making it then China’s first free trade agreement and ASEAN’s first with a major external partner. It then came into effect in 2010, with negotiations for the first upgrade starting in September 2014 and coming into force since 2019.

It's the third revision of the long-standing agreement, which was first signed in 2002 and came into force in 2010. The free trade area covers a combined market of more than 2 billion people and lowers tariffs on goods and boosting flows of services and investment.

China's economic growth slowed to the weakest pace in a year in the third quarter as fragile domestic demand left it heavily reliant on the humming of its exporting factories, stoking concerns about deepening structural imbalances.

China needs a bolder spending package to mend the finances of households and companies, according to a central bank adviser, as signs of resilience in the economy mask the damage wrought by the trade war with the US.

China's ruling Communist Party says it will focus on speeding up self-reliance in science and technology in the coming five years.

China’s economy expanded at 4.8 percent in the third quarter—the slowest rate in a year—according to data released on Monday by its National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), as ongoing trade tensions with the United States continue to weigh on growth.

A further increase in China’s trade surplus failed to fully offset the effects of a worsening housing market, which has left consumers wary.

China's top leaders have pledged to boost the country's self-reliance in advanced technologies and spur stronger domestic demand over the next five years.

Few areas of China reflect the country’s decades-long economic transformation more vividly than its cities. Rapid development has made villages into dense urban landscapes and already sizeable metro areas into some of the world’s largest population centres.