China-ASEAN reach basic consensus on world's largest free trade area<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse
\nBeijing<\/p>\n
Negotiations on establishing a China-ASEAN free trade area are
\nset to wind up ahead of schedule next month after the parties
\nreached a basic consensus that would create the world's biggest
\ntrade zone, state press reported Friday.<\/p>\n
China and the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations
\nwere in agreement on a trade arrangement which would cover 1.7
\nbillion consumers with a combined gross domestic product of two
\ntrillion dollars, the China Daily said quoting sources close to
\nthe talks.<\/p>\n
ASEAN, which hopes to have its own free trade area beginning
\n2010 and a European-style single market 10 years later, currently
\nonly has plans in the works with China, South Korea and India.<\/p>\n
Agriculture, information and communication technologies, human
\nresources development, investment and the development of the
\nMekong River were identified as priorities for co-operation
\nbetween ASEAN and China, the newspaper said.<\/p>\n
Observers said the climate for the negotiations was good
\nalthough some reservations remain among a number of ASEAN nations
\n-- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
\nPhilippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
\"The technical negotiations are not the biggest block to the
\nFTA (free trade area), compared to worries about a 'China threat'
\nin some ASEAN member countries,\" the newspaper quoted Zhao
\nJinping, an official with China's Development Research Center of
\nthe State Council as saying.<\/p>\n
China's trade with ASEAN hit a record high US$78.25 billion in
\n2003, up 42.8 percent from 2002, according to official statistics
\nfrom the General Administration of Customs.<\/p>\n
China's imports from ASEAN jumped 51.7 percent to $47.33
\nbillion last year while exports grew at a slower pace of 31.1
\npercent to $30.93 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $16.4
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
Despite the increase in trade, Zhao said establishing a free
\ntrade area would be more complex than that of the world's two
\nother major commercial zone agreements -- the European Union and
\nthe North American Free Trade Agreement.<\/p>\n
Asian countries differ significantly in terms of their social
\nconditions, he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, China and Singapore are expected to begin
\nnegotiations on a free trade agreement in November, the city-
\nstate's Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said earlier this
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
Australia and New Zealand are also in bilateral discussions
\nwith China on similar trade links.<\/p>",
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