China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are determined to establish a Free Trade Area (FTA) by 2010 as scheduled, according to a joint statement issued yesterday.

Premier Wen Jiabao joins leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) yesterday in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, for a group photo before planting trees to mark the 15th anniversary of dialogue between the two sides. [China Daily]

It was inked by China and ASEAN countries following a summit commemorating the 15th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN dialogue.

When the FTA is established, the trading bloc will encompass a combined population of nearly 2 billion people and a gross domestic product of more than US$2 trillion.

The FTA consists of trade in goods liberalization by 2010 for China and six traditional ASEAN members Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand and by 2015 for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam, according to the statement.

China and ASEAN pledged to work expeditiously towards agreements to liberalize trade in services covering various sectors; and both sides plan to promote investment by creating a liberal, facilitative, transparent and competitive investment regime in China and ASEAN, it says.

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