ASEAN, China discuss trade pact framework

ASEAN, China discuss trade pact framework

SINGAPORE: Officials from Southeast Asia and China have begun a two-day meeting to draft a framework for comprehensive economic relations including a free trade pact, Singapore said Tuesday.

Representatives from the 10-member nations that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were meeting with their Chinese counterparts, a Ministry of Trade and Industry spokesman said in a statement.

The sixth round of talks was to discuss the framework to an agreement on ASEAN-China comprehensive economic cooperation, he said.

ASEAN and China have yet to agree on a list of products to be covered by early tariff cuts under an "early harvest" element in the proposed free trade agreement, which would cover nearly two billion people and will be the world's biggest free trade zone if implemented.

Under this element, China should cut tariffs on ASEAN imports as a goodwill gesture for the regional bloc which already has lower tariff rates. -- AFP