Xinhua, Nanning
A high profile exposition co-hosted by China and ten southeast Asian countries opened here yesterday to make final preparations for Asia's largest free trade area (FTA) amid the lingering global economic downturn.
The China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Expo is a platform to promote exchanges and cooperation in trade and investments between China and ASEAN countries.
This is the sixth of the annual event. Main exhibition halls are decorated with glittering signs and patterns of the new FTA, which will be realized by January 1, 2010.
The FTA will cover a population of 1.9 billion in this region and create a combined GDP of nearly 6 trillion US dollars, only next to the North American FTA and European FTA.
Representing the first free trade area agreement signed by China and other countries, the CAFTA would provide zero tariff on 90 percent of products traded between China and ASEAN and other favorable policies on trade and investment.
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang declared the opening of the Expo in Nanning, capital city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
State leaders, high ranking officials and businessmen from the ten ASEAN countries and China attended the opening ceremony. They all agreed that the Expo has been playing a vital role in advancing the establishment of the CAFTA.
The ten ASEAN countries are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, with a total area of 4.5 million square kilometers.
In a time of rising global trade barriers, the Expo this year is seen by observers as an important opportunity to enhance communication and consultation on the CAFTA, and strengthen the position of China and ASEAN countries on the world economic stage.
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