Delegates to the Third Annual Meeting of ASEAN-China Business Council (ACBC) Meeting held in Yangon believed that trade and economic cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China has huge potential and broad prospects.

A delegate said this in an interview with Xinhua at the end of the three-day ACBC meeting on Wednesday.

At the meeting which began on Monday, representatives had discussions and reached a consensus on a wide range of topics, including the role of chambers of commerce and industry played under the framework of ASEAN-China Free Trade Area, trade and facilitation measures, trade supporting measures, the development of small and medium enterprises of the two regions, and regular business and information exchange.

At the opening session of the meeting, Myanmar Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt underlined that Southeast Asia and China have become the most economically vibrant regions in the world nowadays.

He expressed his belief that ASEAN-China trade will reach 100 billion US dollars by 2005, taking note of the increase of the two parties' two-way trade volume by 43 percent to over 78 billion dollars in 2003 over the previous year.

At the meeting, head of the Chinese delegation Wan Jifei, who is chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, pledged China's commitment to actively

enhancing the business communities on both sides to seize opportunities and take part in the endeavors for the bright future of the regions.

The ACBC was established in November 2001 in Jakarta, aimed at promoting dialogue and cooperation between ASEAN and China and strengthening trade and investment ties between them as well as supporting ASEAN integration.

Source: Xinhua