Wen said East Asia cooperation should focus on enlarging trade and investment within the region by pushing forward trade facilitation and building efficient regional infrastructure networks. The development of an East Asia free trade area, moreover, should be promoted and China is willing to head ASEAN Plus Three trade and economic cooperation, he added.

The Chinese Premier also urged East Asian countries to enhance cooperation in the green economy, modern agriculture and the manufacturing industry.

Third, the summits helped improve bilateral relations between China and neighboring countries.

While meeting with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, for example, the two leaders agreed to push forward the two countries' strategic cooperative partnership.

They agreed to adhere to neighborly relations, maintain high-level interactions and enhance mutual political trust while expanding cooperation of mutual benefit. They also pledged to jointly address issues such as the global financial crisis and climate change.

When meeting with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Wen said the two countries should handle their bilateral ties on the principles of "mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and seeking common ground while reserving differences."

The two countries, he added, should respect and care for each other's core interests and major concerns. The two leaders also agreed to speed up negotiations on a free trade agreement between China and Australia.

FTA on Track

The cooperation between China and ASEAN on how to perfect the China-ASEAN FTA became one of the most important agenda items during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's Thailand trip from October 23 to 25.

China and ASEAN started their dialogues in 1991 and, five years later, China became ASEAN's full dialogue partner. During the sixth China-ASEAN summit, meanwhile, the two sides went on to sign an all-around economic cooperation framework agreement. In it, they decided to build a China-ASEAN FTA by 2010.

More recently, China and ASEAN finished their negotiations on the FTA in August this year, vowing to formally launch the FTA as scheduled on January 1, 2010. At that point, the China-ASEAN FTA will become Asia's largest and the world's third largest FTA with a trade volume of $4.5 trillion and a combined gross domestic product of $6 trillion, following the North American FTA and the European FTA. But in terms of the 1.9-billion population it covers, it will be the largest FTA in the world.

ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan told the Xinhua News Agency that the FTA would benefit both sides. Goods, services and investment, for one thing, can flow more freely within the FTA, which would contribute to the economic health of the entire region.

He noted that establishing the FTA is the natural outcome of the fast-growing trade and economic relationship between China and ASEAN. In 2002, bilateral trade volume was only $54.7 billion, but by 2008, the trade volume skyrocketed to $231.1 billion.

China is now ASEAN's third biggest trading partner. ASEAN states, indeed, have reaped massive profits from China's economic growth, according to the secretary general, who added that Beijing's industrial and manufacturing sectors would also benefit from the incoming free trade.

China and ASEAN countries started to cut tariffs in July 2005. By 2010, China and six ASEAN members, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, are expected to withdraw tariffs on all commodities. The remaining four ASEAN members, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, on the other hand, will experience a transitional period of five more years. They will participate in full free trade with China in 2015.

Observers have pointed out there are several problems that need to be addressed before the FTA opens, such as China's trade surplus with ASEAN members. Once the FTA starts, ASEAN may worry that China's trade surplus will increase, leading to a run on Chinese products, which, in turn, could impact their small and medium-sized enterprises. This could lead to further unemployment inside the organization.

Because trade serves as the basis of economic integration, the bilateral trade range should be developed to wider categories, so as to promote trade within the FTA. Although in recent years Chinese investment to ASEAN members has grown steadily, investment volume remains still much lower than that of ASEAN members to China.

Moreover, China-ASEAN cooperation should be improved with the regionalization of the Chinese currency. Cross-border renminbi settlement would generate a great push toward trade facilitation and economic integration.