KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -The Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN and China on Tuesday signed an upgrade to their free trade agreement, which is expected to include sections on digital, green economy and other new industries.

The 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations is China’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade totaling $771 billion last year, according to ASEAN statistics.

China is seeking to intensify its engagement with ASEAN, a region with a collective gross domestic product of $3.8 trillion, to counter hefty import tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on countries around the world.

Beijing has been seeking to position itself as a more open economy, despite criticism from other major powers of its expanding export restrictions on rare earths an

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