China Pushes For Faster Asian Trade Liberalization

China’s Premier Wen Jiabao, in his speech to the 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three Summit in Bali on November 18, 2011, proposed that the participating countries should look to accelerate and deepen regional trade liberalization and facilitation.

While lauding the role already played by the cooperation between the ASEAN Plus Three countries - including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar, together with South Korea, Hong Kong-China and Japan - in overcoming the last international financial crisis and maintaining economic growth, he pointed out that global uncertainties still persisted and that stronger cooperative measures were still necessary.

He reminded his audience that, recently, China and Japan had jointly put forward an initiative on accelerating the building of the East Asia Free Trade Area and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia. He said that China looks forward to the support from all countries to expand trade and investment cooperation.

Wen also put forward proposals to deepen financial cooperation between all of the countries, strengthen central bank cooperation, promote financial market liberalization, cooperate in regulatory areas, and expand the existing multinational currency swap size to secure regional financial stability.

He emphasized that more research was required in new areas of regional trade, such as its settlement in local currencies and the seeking of better ways to reduce the time taken in, and the cost of, trading in East Asia.

He concluded that East Asian cooperation is at a critical stage in its development, and that it is in the interest of all of the countries to continue to promote East Asia integration, with ASEAN Plus Three as the main vehicle.

November 22, 2011

Source: Tax News