Business leaders and representatives from China and some members
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Saturday
vowed to forge close strategic ties among urban chambers of
commerce and enhance economic cooperation and development.
That was the consensus reached by more than 600 members of the
business communities of cities in China and nine of the 10 members
of ASEAN.
The participants came to Nanning, capital of south China's
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to attend a forum on economic
cooperation and development of chambers of commerce.
Under the consensus, the participants agreed to abide by the
principle of reciprocity and provide each other with services and
conveniences, such as establishing representative agencies.
They agreed to set up a Sino-ASEAN federation of chambers of
commerce, with the secretariat to be located in Nanning, and to
create a special organization in charge of preparations for the
proposed federation.
The two-day forum, the first of the kind, closed on
Saturday.
Nanning is also the permanent venue of the Sino-ASEAN Expo,
which is an annual gathering of political and business leaders as
well as experts to discuss major issues concerning the development
of China and ASEAN.
During those gatherings, business people from China and the
Southeast Asian countries come to seek their fortunes. The Fifth
Sino-ASEAN Expo will be held during Oct. 20-23 next year.
China aims to establish a free trade zone with Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand by
2010. Free trade zones with Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar are
expected to be in place by 2015.
China and the 10 ASEAN members are speeding up tariff reductions
to facilitate a China-ASEAN free trade zone.
China's average tariff on ASEAN goods has been slashed from
9.9percent to 5.8 percent and will further drop to 2.4 percent by
2009. By the time the free trade zone is established, 93 percent of
products from ASEAN countries will be tariff-free.
China-ASEAN trade volume was 160.8 billion U.S. dollars last
year and is expected to reach 190 billion U.S. dollars this
year.
In the first eight months of this year, bilateral trade amounted
to 127.95 billion U.S. dollars.
(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2007)
