NANNING: China and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have the ability to build a "diamond decade," Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said at the opening ceremony of the 10th China-ASEAN Expo Tuesday.
The past ten years have witnessed a golden decade of China-ASEAN cooperation, with bilateral trade volume increasing fivefold and the scale of cross-investment expanding threefold, Li said while giving a keynote speech.
China and ASEAN member countries have similar goals and development tasks, and it will unleash great energy by promoting China-ASEAN economic cooperation, the premier said.
Premier Li on the occasion called for an "upgraded version" of the free trade area (FTA) between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), pledging economic and trade cooperation of "a greater scope and higher quality."
China and ASEAN could have discussions about further lowering tariffs, cutting non-tariff measures, holding talks on a new round of service trade commitments, and promoting openness in the area of investment, Li said.
China is willing to sign long-term trade agreements with ASEAN members on agricultural products and expand imports from ASEAN, Li said, adding that China expects the bilateral trade volume to hit 1 trillion US dollars by 2020.
China is also willing to join hands with ASEAN to advance talks of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and discuss exchanges and interactions with frameworks including Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.
Li also called for further cooperation in areas of transportation, telecommunications and energy, as well as to enhance economic and financial cooperation between China and ASEAN.
He vowed to further beef up strategic cooperation with ASEAN. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN strategic partnership, said Li, adding that the partnership has become a model of good neighborliness and friendly cooperation.
It is the unswerving policy of the new Chinese administration to enhance strategic cooperation with the ASEAN The 10th China-ASEAN Expo opened in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region with more than 2,300 companies from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) attending the event.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and leaders of ASEAN member countries attended and address the opening ceremony.
A total of 4,600 booths, 1,294 of which are from ASEAN countries, will be open for business at the expo that will run from Sept. 3 to 6. The China-ASEAN Expo was initiated in 2004. It has consolidated its place as an important platform to promote bilateral trade and relationships between China and ASEAN.
Comments
Comments are closed.