ASEAN-China Open World's Largest Free Trade Area

IndustryWeek (Coates, AFP) - Rate China charged on ASEAN goods would be cut to 0.1% from 9.8%; tariffs imposed on Chinese goods by ASEAN states will fall to 0.6% from 12.8%. Covering a market of 1.7 billion consumers, China and Southeast Asia established the world's biggest free trade area (FTA) on Dec. 30., liberalizing billions of dollars in goods and investments.

Eight years in the making, the ASEAN-China FTA will rival the EU and the North American Free Trade Area in terms of value and surpass those markets in terms of population. Officials hope it will expand Asia's trade reach while boosting intra-regional trade that has already been expanding at 20% a year.

Under the agreement, China and the six founding ASEAN countries -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- are to eliminate barriers to investment and tariffs on 90% of products. Later ASEAN members, including Vietnam and Cambodia, have until 2015 to follow suit.