Establishment and membership
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok by the five original Member Countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.  Brunei Darussalam joined on 8 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Laos and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999.

The ASEAN region has a population of about 500 million, a total area of 4.5 million square kilometers, a combined gross domestic product of US$737 billion, and a total trade of US$ 720 billion.

China-ASEAN's cooperation
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and leaders of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member countries signed a landmark framework agreement on Nov. 14, 2002 in Phnom Penh on enhancing full-range economic cooperation, marking the beginning of setting up a China-ASEAN free trade zone.

According to the agreement, the free trade zone covers trade in goods and services, investment and economic cooperation, with the trade of goods being the core of the free trade. Tariffs and trade limits on most goods and products will be abolished gradually.

China and the ASEAN countries singled out agriculture, IT technology, human resources and investment promotion and the exploration of the Mekong River valley as the priorities for economic cooperation.

After that, there is a fast increase in trade of China and ASEAN. Trade value amounted to US$78 billion in 2003, up by 40% over 2002, a record high. Until to the end of 2003, ASEAN is China's 5th largest trade partner, while China is ASEAN's 6th largest.

From August 18th to 19th in 2003, the 9th China-ASEAN Senior Officials Consultations also was held in Fujian Province of China,

The second ASEAN-China Business Council (ACBC) Meeting China-ASEAN Business Cooperation Forum was held in Kunming, Yunnan Province, exchanging ideas of promoting free ttade zone between China and ASEAN.

In the first quarter of 2004, China imported from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) some 1.06 billion yuan (US$128 million) worth of products enjoying zero tariff, according to the Administration of Customs (AOC).

The region of Pan Pearl River Delta, neighboring ASEAN, has provided best business environment for companies in ASEAN.

For example, more than 4,000 businessmen from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are attending the 11th Kunming Export Commodities Trade Fair which opened on Aug. 26, 2003 in this capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

To meet the requirements for a free trade zone between China and ASEAN in the near future, China's decision to establish special ASEAN exhibition rooms is echoed by companies from the region, with 256 out of 1,500 exhibition rooms occupied by enterprises from ASEAN countries.

In addition, millions of overseas Chinese in ASEAN are from the region of Pan Pearl River Delta, such as Jiangmen, Guangdong Province is the No. 1 hometown of overseas Chinese. 

Editor: Donald