Progress in China-ASEAN FTA talks

The second round of negotiations on an upgraded China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) has made "notable progress", China's Ministry of Commerce said on Friday.

Service trade, investment, economic cooperation, simplified trade procedures were discussed during the negotiation, the ministry said.

Launched in 2010, CAFTA has become the largest free trade area among developing countries. China proposed "an upgraded version" of CAFTA in September of 2013.

The first round of negotiation began in September last year in Vietnam.

China is ASEAN's largest trading partner, while ASEAN ranks as China's third-largest trading partner. China aims to elevate bilateral trade with ASEAN to 500 billion U.S. dollars by the end of this year and one trillion U.S. dollars by 2020.