Economic and trade relations are essential to deepening the comprehensive relationship between China and ASEAN. They are also the area where mutual dependence is most obvious. Closer economic relations constitute the cornerstone for the all-round, in-depth development of China-ASEAN relations. Since the establishment of the bilateral dialogue mechanism in 1991, ChinaASEAN economic and trade relations have been upgraded by the important role of China in the Asian fi nancial crisis and further deepened by the signing of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement. At the same time, the continuous improvement in the trade and investment cooperation and the governmental and non-governmental dialogue mechanism has provided strong support for the deepening of economic and trade cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.