China, ASEAN to implement tariff reduction program in 2005

China, ASEAN to implement tariff reduction program in 2005

Agence France-Presse, Shanghai

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plan to implement a round of tariff reductions beginning in January 2005 as part of their greater plan to create a free trade zone, state press reported Wednesday.

Formal free trade area (FTA) negotiations will be concluded by June 2004, according to the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between China and ASEAN set last year, the Xinhua news agency said.

The first round of negotiations are due to take place later this week in the southern province of Guangxi.

With the establishment of the China-ASEAN FTA, China's exports to ASEAN are forecast to increase by US$10.6 billion, the report said.

ASEAN's exports to China are predicted to grow by $13 billion.

Amid a shaky global economy, trade between China and ASEAN continued to surge last year, jumping 31.8 percent to a high of $54.8 billion.

China has long been keen to establish a Sino-ASEAN free trade zone and made that clear to visiting Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last week.

"China will abide by its commitments and take measures to foster a Sino-ASEAN free trade zone to promote the economic development of ASEAN countries and prosperity of the region," Premier Zhu Rongji said.

"Efforts to establish a Sino-ASEAN free trade zone is of important and far-sighted significance."

ASEAN comprises the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia.