The Chinese government was facilitating regional economic
cooperation, Vice Minister of Commerce Yi Xiaozhun said Thursday at
the annual meeting of the 21st Century Forum.
"The world has seen an unprecedented move towards regional
economic cooperation over the past 10 years," Yi said, noting the
move was driven by economic globalization.
Eighty percent of the existing free trade zones were established
in the past 10 years, and trade under regional economic cooperation
mechanisms accounted for more than 50 percent of international
trade.
"The world will enter a new era of development of free trade
zones in 10 years, and the major economic powers, including China,
will play a leading role," Yi said.
"The government has taken concrete measures to boost regional
economic cooperation, and the effort has paid off," he said.
The construction of the China-ASEAN free trade zone was
proceeding smoothly with trade predicted to reach US$200 billion by
2010.
China also signed free trade agreements with Chile and Pakistan
to open new markets, and the mainland had signed arrangements for
closer economic partnerships with Hong Kong and Macao.
"We should take this great opportunity to enter the global
market," said Chen Jingwei, president of China Jingwei Group, a
leading Chinese weaving manufacturer.
"Cooperation at higher level and in a wider range is now on
schedule," Yi said, adding China and the other five member states
of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) had agreed to expand
cooperation into the economic field.
China was negotiating free trade zones with Australia, New
Zealand, Singapore and Iceland, considering greater economic
cooperation with Japan, the Republic of Korea and India. "China is
still at the initial stage of regional economic cooperation," said
Yu Xiaosong, deputy director of the China Research Institute on
World Trade Organization.
Yu stressed China should work out effective methods to help its
1.3 billion people see real benefits from regional economic
development, despite the remarkable economic and trade growth.
(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2006)