The danger with the digital alignment between China and ASEAN is that the rules governing cross-border data movement come to be modelled on those as confusing and restrictive as Beijing’s.
Digital trade is broadly defined as all trade that is digitally ordered or delivered and now accounts for roughly a quarter of international commerce. It continues to grow and holds the key to global productivity growth.
But as preferential free trade agreements proliferate – there are now 116 – and each with different e-commerce provisions, the risk is growing of disruptive fragmentation in digital trade as divergent rules to manage data availability and protection emerge.
