The Chinese Vice Premier has reaffirmed his country’s commitment to going beyond the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) which is set to come into effect on January 1, 2010 in developing comprehensive economic cooperation in the Asian region.

This agreement will provide a zerotariff policy on 90 per cent of the products traded between China and ASEAN countries including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Once CAFTA takes effect, it will be Asia’s biggest free trade zone and cover a population of 1.9 trillion with a trade volume of US$4.5 trillion and a combined GDP of US$6 trillion.