China-ASEAN trade tops US$230bn

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Source: CCTV.com | 04-10-2009 15:32

China's vice minister of commerce says the 10-member ASEAN is likely to become China's third largest trading partner. Gao Hucheng was speaking during preparations for the October expo in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

China's vice minister of commerce says the 10-member ASEAN  is likely to become China's third largest trading partner.

He said despite the global financial crisis, the China-ASEAN trade volume has maintained its rapid growth. Last year, it was over 230 billion US dollars, up nearly 14 percent year-on-year. It's estimated that by the end of 2008, the mutual investment volume totaled nearly 60 billion US dollars.

Gao pointed out the China-ASEAN Expo is the only exhibition with a free-trade theme. The expo will run 5 days, with over four thousand booths. Gao says China will use it to help domestic companies explore the ASEAN market.

Editor:Liu Anqi