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| Backgrounder: China-ASEAN Free Trade Area |
| Suita Filter Media 2010-01-30 13:38:36 Author:filtercloth Source: Font size:[Large][Middle][Small] |
BEIJING, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are to establish a free trade zone on Friday, forming an economic bloc of 1.9 billion people with a total GDP of nearly six trillion U.S. dollars and trade worth around 4.5 trillion dollars.
The following are some basic facts about the China-ASEAN free trade area.
In November 2002, then Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and leaders of the 10 ASEAN nations at the sixth China-ASEAN summit signed the landmark Framework Agreement on ASEAN-China Comprehensive Economic Cooperation, marking a start to the process of setting up a China-ASEAN free trade zone.
Under the agreement, the free trade zone is to be completed by 2010.
Since 2003, China and ASEAN have been developing agreements to support the building of the free trade area.
In November 2004, China and ASEAN signed a free trade goods agreement, which regulates that beginning from July 2005, China and ASEAN countries would gradually reduce tariffs on more products.
On Aug. 15, 2009, China and ASEAN member states signed an investment treaty at the eighth trade ministers' meeting, and started to open investment markets to each other, signaling the wrap-up of major negotiations of the process.
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