China, ASEAN trade to top $100b<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse
\nBeijing<\/p>\n
Trade between China and the 10 ASEAN nations should surpass
\nUS$100 billion this year, said Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi while
\ncalling for the fast tracking of a proposed free trade area
\n(FTA).<\/p>\n
\"From January to September, bilateral trade increased 35.6
\npercent year-on-year to stand at $75.45 billion,\" Wu was quoted
\nas saying by Xinhua news agency on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"It is possible to exceed $100 billion for the full year.\"<\/p>\n
Wu was speaking at a Sino-Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations (ASEAN) business and investment meeting in southern
\nNanning city, attended by other regional leaders including the
\nprime ministers of Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.<\/p>\n
China's trade with its Southeast Asian neighbors has risen on
\naverage 20 percent annually since 1990 and Wu called for further
\njoint efforts from both sides to maintain growth.<\/p>\n
\"While consolidating and expanding trade of traditional goods,
\nwe should actively promote the trade of machinery and electronics
\nproducts and commodities with high added value,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Wu and ASEAN leaders said the earlier an FTA was agreed the
\nbetter, pointing to regional economic integration becoming the
\ntrend amid the tide of globalization.<\/p>\n
\"China and ASEAN should team up,\" said Wu.<\/p>\n
\"Only by doing so can we grasp opportunities, meet
\nchallenges ... and withstand the fierce competition on a global
\nbasis.<\/p>\n
\"It is predictable that with the FTA in place, the two sides
\nwill better benefit from each other's economic development,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
China and ASEAN signed a economic co-operation framework
\nagreement in 2002 which will lead to the world's biggest free
\ntrade zone of nearly two billion people with a combined gross
\ndomestic product of $2 trillion by 2010.<\/p>\n
In September, the two sides completed negotiations on the
\ntrade of goods and will begin to implement tariff cuts in 2005.<\/p>\n
The next phases of an FTA will concern trading of services and
\ninvestment.<\/p>\n
\"The FTA will prove good for both sides,\" said Cambodian Prime
\nMinister Hun Sen. \"ASEAN has benefited from a more developed
\nChina.\"<\/p>\n
To facilitate the FTA process, Wu said she hoped the two sides
\nwould intensify their co-operation in fields such as finance,
\nservices, investment, agriculture and the information industry.<\/p>\n
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia,
\nthe Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, Malaysia and Thailand.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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