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China, ASEAN sign agreement

Cebu : China and ASEAN countries on Sunday took a major step forward in the plan to establish a bilateral Free Trade Area (FTA) by 2010, which will be the third largest in the world.

China and ASEAN signed the Agreement on Trade in Services of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area here, as part of the tenth China-ASEAN Summit attended by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and leaders of the ten ASEAN member countries.

The signing is another major achievement in China-ASEAN economic cooperation and trade.

It will mark a key step forward in the building of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and lay the foundation for full and scheduled completion of the China-ASEAN FTA.

The idea of a China-ASEAN FTA was proposed by Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji on November 4, 2002, when he met with leaders of the ASEAN nations.

During that meeting, the two sides signed the landmark Framework Agreement on ASEAN-China Comprehensive Economic Cooperation, marking the beginning of the process of setting up a China-ASEAN free trade zone.

Under the agreement, the free trade zone would be completed by 2010. The four new ASEAN members — Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam — have been allowed an additional transitional period of five years and are slated to complete the building of the free trade area in 2015. — PTI

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