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China and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have the ability to build a "diamond decade," Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said at the opening ceremony of the tenth China-ASEAN Expoon Tuesday.
Li called for an "upgraded version" of the free trade area (FTA) between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), pledging economic and trade cooperation of "a greater scope and higher quality."
Li made the remarks during a keynote speech at the tenth China-ASEAN Expo, which runs from Tuesday to Friday in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The past ten years have witnessed a golden decade of China-ASEAN cooperation, with bilateral trade volume increasing fivefold and the scale of cross-investment expanding threefold, Li said while giving a keynote speech.
China and ASEAN member countries have similar goals and development tasks, and it will unleash great energy by promoting China-ASEAN economic cooperation, the premier said.
China and ASEAN could have discussions about further lowering tariffs, cutting non-tariff measures, holding talks on a new round of service trade commitments, and promoting openness in the area of investment, Li said.
China is willing to sign long-term trade agreements with ASEAN members on agricultural products and expand imports from ASEAN, Li said, adding that China expects the bilateral trade volume to hit 1 trillion U.S. dollars by 2020.
China is also willing to join hands with ASEAN to advance talks ofRegional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and discuss exchanges and interactions with frameworks including Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.
Li also called for further cooperation in areas of transportation, telecommunications and energy, as well as to enhance economic and financial cooperation between China and ASEAN.
The expo opened Tuesday in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
