china asean 19 april 02
CHINA ACCELERATES PROCESS OF
REGIONAL TRADE LIBERALISATION
Beijing, Apr. 18 (VNA) -- China has
attached importance to boosting regional economic cooperation in the process of
economic globalisation, said Chinese Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and
Economic Cooperation Long Yongtu.
In a recent press conference, Long stressed that regional economic
cooperation such as North America, the European Union and African free-trade
areas has proved to bring benefits to economic development.
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plan
to start the 10+1 free trade dialogue mechanism next month to accelerate the
process of trade liberalisation in the Asian region, he said, adding that the
10+1 dialogue process will not exceed 10 years.
Two-way trade between China and ASEAN was USD 22.1 billion in 2001,
a 40 percent year-on-year increase.
China also came to an agreement with Thailand to establish a
bilateral free trade area, according to Permanent Secretary of the Thai Trade
Ministry Karun Kithtisathapon.
The agreement was reached during the Boao Forum for Asia recently
held on Hainan Island of China.--VNA