China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Sunday inked a protocol on deepened cooperation on bilateral trade.[Special coverage]
The protocol covers a wide range such as trade in goods, services, investment, economic and technological cooperation, and is a supplement to the original agreement of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA), according to a statement by China's Ministry of Commerce.
China vowed to improve its services in construction engineering, securities, travel agencies and tourism operators, while the ASEAN members promised to further open their service sectors to China, including commerce, telecommunication, construction, education, environment, finance, tourism and transportation.
Both sides agreed to further open their services, allow each other to establish solely-owned or joint-venture companies, and reduce regional restrictions.
The ACFTA is a free trade area between the 10 ASEAN member states and China, with its initial framework agreement signed in 2002 and the area fully completed in 2010.
Bilateral trade volume surged nearly nine times from 54.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2002 to 480.4 billion in 2014, thanks to the preferential policies in the FTA.
China is the ASEAN's largest trade partner, and ASEAN is China's third largest partner. Mutual investment has added up to more than 150 billion U.S. dollars, the statement said.
The two sides are targeting their bilateral trade at 1 trillion U.S. dollars by 2020.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in 2013 called for an upgraded version of the ACFTA, pledging economic and trade cooperation of a greater scope and better quality.
