Chinese, ASEAN leaders meet to boost cooperation

Hua Hin (Thailand), Oct 24

Officials of China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met here Saturday to boost economic cooperation between the two sides.

"China has become an indispensable pillar of political and economic stability in this region," Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said at the meeting.

He said China's friendly relations with its neighbouring countries have promoted regional cooperation and contributed to the development of a world community, Xinhua reported.

China is ASEAN's fourth largest trading and investment partner. Its trade with ASEAN accounted for 10.6 percent of the bloc's total trade in 2008.

The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA), to be launched next year, will be the world's largest with a combined population of 1.9 billion, and the world's third largest in terms of trade volume.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao attended the meeting who arrived here late Friday to participate in a series of meeting related to the ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.

Last updated on Oct 24^th, 2009 at 15:40 pm IST--IANS

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