Economic reform in China and the economic prosperity that resulted have brought about tremendous growth and pattern changes in its external trade. In the last couple of decades, merchandise trade between China and all the five ASEAN countries, which started at relatively low levels, has grown at impressive rates. This is so despite the increasing similarity in the exports of China and the five ASEAN countries, except Singapore. Bilateral trade between China and these five ASEAN countries reflects intra-industry division of labor as well as trade of niche products.
