Free Trade Area by 2010
China, Asean reach basic consensus
AFP, Beijing
Negotiations on the establishment of a China-Asean free trade area set to wind up ahead of schedule next month after the parties reached a basic consensus that would create the world's biggest trade zone, state press reported Friday. China and the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) are in agreement on a trade arrangement which would cover 1.7 billion consumers with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of two trillion dollars, the China Daily said, quoting sources close to the talks. The free trade area is expected to be launched by 2010. Agriculture, information and communication technologies, human resources development, investment and the development of the Mekong River were identified as priorities for co-operation between the 11 countries, the newspaper said. Observers said the climate for the negotiations was good although some reservations remain among some of the Asean nations -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. "The technical negotiations are not the biggest block to the FTA (free trade area), compared to worries about a 'China threat' in some Asean member countries," the newspaper quoted Zhao Jinping, an official with China's Development Research Centre of the State Council, as saying.
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