China, ASEAN to talk trade pact

China, ASEAN to talk trade pact

Agence France-Presse, Los Cabos, Mexico

China's trade minister said Thursday Beijing would officially launch negotiations on a free trade accord framework with Southeast Asia when Asian leaders gather in Cambodia next month.

Shi Guangsheng, Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, unveiled the plan at a ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum here.

"We will officially launch negotiations in Cambodia in November," Shi told his APEC partners, according to a Japanese delegation official.

Cambodia is to host a four-day summit on November 1 which will draw leaders from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam as well as China, Japan and South Korea.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China are now drafting a framework for comprehensive economic relations including a free trade pact.

The two sides 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.