The high-speed growth of Chinese economy will provide solid foundation for the further development of China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) economic and trade cooperation, said Yuan Xucheng, editor-in-chief of the Beijing-based magazine Reform.

Yuan made the remark here Saturday at the China-ASEAN Finance and Economics Forum. The two sides enjoy bright prospect in construction of Free Trade Area (FTA), he said, quoting figures assaying that the FTA will increase ASEAN's export to China by about48 percent, and China's export to ASEAN by 55 percent.

On July 1, 2005, the two sides started their tariff reduction process according to their FTA agreement. By 2010, the tariff level between them will be lowered to 0 to 5 percent.

The abolishment of trade barriers, simplification of trade process, acceleration of cargo flows and tariff reduction will surely reduce transactional cost and promote economic growth, he said.

The all-round development of China-ASEAN economic cooperation not only depends on further opening-up of ASEAN countries, but also on China's sustained economic growth and successful transition of its economic structure, he said.

The economy of China and ASEAN countries is fully supplementary, and in recent years, the two sides, in their FTA framework, have boosted their cooperation in trade, investment, finance, agriculture, tourism, transportation, energy, science, technology, education and human resources, said Xu Ningning, deputy secretary-general of the China-ASEAN Business Council.

Regional economic integration is changing the global economic and trade structure, Xu said. The recent rapid development of East Asian economic integration is closely related to the FTA construction by China and the ASEAN, he said.

The China-ASEAN FTA process, an important part of the East Asian economic integration, also pushes forward the East Asian economic integration forcefully, he said.

Source: Xinhua