China-ASEAN Free Trade Area sets example for mutual beneficial,win-win
regional co-op
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/01/content_12741761.htm
BEIJING, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Amid the chime to ring in the New Year,
the start of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area came as a milestone in the
annals of China-ASEAN relations, and it may well serve as a model for
regional cooperation not only in Asia, but in other parts of the
world.
The new free trade area has brought together developing countries
in the region with a combined population of 1.9 billion, a combined
gross domestic product (GDP) of up to 6 trillion U.S. dollars and
total trade volume of 4.5 trillion dollars.
The idea of forming such a free trade bloc dated back to the Asian
financial crisis in the 1990s. At the third China-ASEAN Summit in
Manila in 1999 then Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji reiterated China's
readiness to enhance its ties with ASEAN free trade district. His
proposal got positive response from leaders of ASEAN nations.
In the ensuing decade, both sides managed to reach a number of
agreements that aimed to set up a China-ASEAN free trade area, and
made substantial progress for its establishment.
Today, the free trade area is of greater significance amid the
ongoing global financial crisis and rising trade protectionism when
developing countries are more vulnerable because of their fragile
economies. Under the circumstance, China-ASEAN free trade area will
undoubtedly enhance the capacity of the regional economies to tackle
the crisis.
Moreover, China and ASEAN nations enjoy geographic advantage in
their economic cooperation, and their economies are highly
complementary to each other. The free trade area will push forward
regional economic cooperation.
In a recent interview ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said
the free trade area will benefit both sides and help lift world
economy out of the crisis. It will also help enhance cultural
exchanges and integration in the region and the mutual understanding
between China and ASEAN nations.
Cooperation between China and ASEAN nations covers economic,
political, cultural, environmental, security and many other spheres,
and the free trade area will offer further impetus to their
comprehensive cooperation, he added.
As Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at the fourth East Asia Summit
in Thailand last October, East Asia is one of the most dynamic and
promising regions in the world, and never have the nations in the
region been so closely bound by common fate and shared weal and woe.
Closer regional cooperation is the general trend in an age of
economic globalization, and the surest way to build up risk resistance
capacity. We are confident that China-ASEAN Free Trade Area will serve
as a driving force for regional economic cooperation, an arena for
cultural exchange and a new starting point for enhancing China-ASEAN
ties.
Backgrounder: China-ASEAN Free Trade Area
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/31/content_12736507.htm
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