China, ASEAN to upgrade FTA, solve disputes

BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday agreed to upgrade their free trade area (FTA) and to solve territorial disputes.

"We agreed to accelerate regional economic integration, further open markets to each other, and advance trade and investment liberalization to upgrade our free trade area," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced at a press briefing, after a special meeting with his counterparts of ASEAN members and ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh in Beijing.

The FTA, established in January 2010, is the biggest among emerging economies. China-ASEAN trade volume topped 400 billion U.S. dollars last year, six times more than that a decade ago.

The development of China-ASEAN relations brought great regional stability and prosperity, said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in a meeting with the ASEAN foreign ministers.

Wang Yi proposed four regional systems, namely, a free trade system with regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP) at the core, an Asian currency stability system based on 10+3 financial cooperation, an investment and financing cooperation system and an Asian credit rating system based on the Asian bond market.

He called on all sides to cope well with the relationship between RCEP and the trans-Pacific partnership(TPP) and make all free trade arrangements to complement each other.