China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed Wednesday in Phnom Penh to further strengthen their comprehensive cooperation on transport to promote the establishment of ASEAN-China free trade area.

The agreement was reached at the Third ASEAN-China Transport Ministers Meeting held here on Wednesday, which was co-chaired by Chinese Communication Minister Zhang Chunxian and Cambodian PublicWorks and Transport Minister Sun Chanthol.

The two sides have reached common consensus on a wide range of issues concerning transport cooperation, such as seeking common prosperity for the peoples in the region through policy and information exchanges and joint projects implementation.

Zhang delivered a speech titled as "Taking a Practical Approach for Cooperation and Seeking Common Prosperity for Future" at the meeting and praised the cooperation and efforts made by both sides.

He said that the ASEAN-China transport cooperation is becoming more consolidated with every step forward and has constituted an essential part in building a partnership of mutual trust and practical cooperation between ASEAN and China.

In a joint statement, the ministers admitted the significant potential of ASEAN-China strategic partnership in transport and offered its crucial support for the ASEAN-China free trade area initiative.

They also adopted the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Transport Cooperation between the members of ASEAN and the government of China, which will be signed by the ASEAN secretary-general and the communications minister of China on the sidelines of the ASEAN-China Summit in Vientiane, Laos on Nov. 27.

Under the MoU, the two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in such areas as transport infrastructure construction; transport facilities; maritime safety and security; air transport; and human resources development.

Moreover, the ASEAN Senior Transport Officials Meeting (STOM) and China Maritime Consultative Group will be established as the cooperative platform to work out and recommend the details of the initiative. China will host the first ASEAN-China Maritime Consultative Group meeting in early 2005.

In order to develop the international ocean shipping industry and air services liberalization in the region, ministers agreed to work towards developing and signing an ASEAN-China regional maritime transport cooperation framework agreement as well as concluding an ASEAN-China regional passenger and cargo air services arrangement.

China and ASEAN, engaged in building a strategic partnership oriented towards peace and prosperity, have grown into one of the regions with the fastest growing economy and huge potential in the world.

And by the time the Free Trade Area is established, it will be the most populous Free Trade Area in the world, with a population of 1.7 billion consumers and a potential trade volume of 1.2 trillion US dollars to be generated.

The ministers agreed to hold the fourth ASEAN and China Transport Ministers meeting in Laos in 2005.

Besides the 3rd ASEAN-China Transport Ministers meeting, a series of transport meetings were also held from Nov. 21 to 24 in Phnom Penh, including the Senior Official Meetings between ASEAN and China and Japan; the 10th ASEAN Transport Ministers meeting and the Second ASEAN and Japan Transport Ministers meeting.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.