BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to report from the Maybank, China’s investment in Southeast Asia has been showing good momentum. In the first half of 2019, China’s investment in Southeast Asia reached USD 11 billion, almost doubling year-on-year. Against the headwind of US trade protectionism, the economic relationship between China and Southeast Asia is still uniquely well, which fully proves the feasibility of the Belt and Road Initiative.
The new round of scientific and technological revolution is an important background for China's rapid investment in Southeast Asia. According to statistics, China’s investment in Southeast Asia’s science and technology sector reached USD2.5 billion in the first half of the year, more than the total in 2017. The global commercialization of 5G communications is a major factor driving the outbreak of technology investment in the region. With the active assistance of China, Southeast Asian countries are catching up on the fast lane of 5G communication, and have built and transformed a large number of communication infrastructures, laying a solid foundation for the industrial revolution brought about by 5G.
To get rich, first you need to get the road prepared. This experience of China's economic development has undergone some changes. In the era of digital economy, the communication network has become the new roads and bridges, promoting the development of businesses and industries in various countries. China and Southeast Asian countries actively welcome the tide of the digital economy and hope to achieve lane-changing and overtaking and become developed countries the new round of scientific and technological revolution. The goal of the Belt and Road Initiative is also to build these new roads and ties, which will make China and Southeast Asia more closely linked and become a new pole of global economic growth.
This new change is taking place in Southeast Asia. According to statistics, Chinese mobile phone manufacturers have been dominating the Southeast Asian market, and the latest market share has jumped to 62%, far exceeding that of other Western countries. Chinese manufacturers' mobile phones are cost-effective and have been customized and optimized according to the habits of users in Southeast Asia. These mobile phones will become the counters and stores of the digital economy in Southeast Asia in the future.