Chinese and ASEAN leaders are to hold a summit meeting here Monday afternoon, believed by many to help push forward the ambitious China-ASEAN free trade area project.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and leaders from ten ASEAN member countries will all attend the summit. This is the first time the top leaders of China and ASEAN members to convene in China.

In the morning, Wen is scheduled to meet with leaders of the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia respectively, according to the agenda.

The high-level summit, officially to mark the 15th anniversary of the dialogue relationship between China and the ASEAN, is also expected to enhance mutual political trust and cooperation in safeguarding regional stability, Chinese analysts said.

China and ASEAN countries are expected to ink an joint statement following the summit meeting, which is believed to sum up bilateral friendship relations and draw up future development course.

The China-ASEAN free trade area encompasses 1.8 billion population and has a combined gross domestic product of 2 trillion U.S. dollars when completed in 2010. It will be the most populous and third largest free trade area in the world.

China and ASEAN's ambitious free trade area project is based on their 15-year-long comprehensive and brisk trade development.

According to Chinese statistics, China-ASEAN bilateral trade grew over 20 percent annually over the past 15 years, reaching 130 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 15 times from 1991, when China had established diplomatic ties with all members of ASEAN.

The trade volume between the two sides is expected to reach 200 billion US dollars by 2008, two years ahead of schedule, as construction of the China-ASEAN free trade area is surging ahead.

Source: Xinhua