Editor's Notes: As China’s 14th Five-Year Plan nears completion and the 15th Five-Year Plan comes into view, Bridging News is launching a Global Vision special series, “China’s New Blueprint,” featuring international experts who unpack key themes such as China’s modernization path, international cooperation, technological innovation, and green development for overseas readers.

Chongqing - Bridging News recently interviewed Wang Hongwei, CEO of the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF) under the Asian Development Bank, to examine how China's policy signals translate into practical financial cooperation in Southeast Asia.

China's 15th Five-Year Plan places strong emphasis on multilateralism, regional integration, and the development of green and technology-driven finance, positioning cooperation with neighboring economies as a central policy priority. The Plan underscores China's intention to work with regional partners to strengthen supply chains, expand sustainable investment, and promote shared development, a message that is being closely watched across Southeast Asia.

The policy direction comes at a time of shifting global trade dynamics. A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report warns that tariff-related price increases could reduce Southeast Asia's total exports to the United States by up to 9.7%. 

At the same time, trade ties between China and ASEAN continue to deepen. Data from China's General Administration of Customs show that in the first three quarters of this year, China's total goods trade reached 33.61 trillion yuan (about 4.77 trillion U.S. dollars), up 4% year on year. ASEAN remained China's largest trading partner during the period. Bilateral trade totaled 5.57 trillion yuan, up 9.6% from a year earlier and accounting for 16.6% of China's total foreign trade. 

Wang said CGIF was established as a trust fund of the Asian Development Bank and as a cooperative initiative under the ASEAN+3 framework, involving China, Japan, and South Korea. Its core mandate, he explained, is to support the development of local currency bond markets in ASEAN. "There is no single ASEAN local currency bond market," Wang said, noting vast differences in market maturity across the region. While countries such as Malaysia and Thailand can support large-scale, long-term financing, less developed markets like Cambodia and Laos face challenges accessing long-term funding.

He added that local currency bond markets in many ASEAN countries are dominated by government issuance, leaving corporate participation relatively limited. CGIF, he said, focuses on providing guarantees that allow corporates to issue bonds and secure longer-term financing in their domestic currencies.

Green finance has become a central part of that effort. Wang cited CGIF's recent support for a solar farm project in Cambodia, financed with a 15-year tenor, the longest such transaction in the country to date. He said the deal demonstrated how credit guarantees can enable local companies to access long-term financing for renewable energy projects. CGIF has also supported data center projects, which Wang described as critical infrastructure for Southeast Asia's growing digital economy.

Wang said policymakers and corporates across ASEAN are paying close attention to China's 15th Five-Year Plan, particularly China's experience in developing electric vehicles and solar energy. He noted that many in the region are studying how government policy guidance and early support helped China build scale in these sectors. In an environment of global policy uncertainty, Wang said some ASEAN stakeholders see China as offering a stable framework for continued cooperation, including expanded access to renminbi financing as regional integration advances.