MANILA, April 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao said here Wednesday that he is confident the total trade volume between China and ASEAN will almost double its current figure in five years time.

    Hu predicted in a speech at a joint session of the Philippine parliament that before 2010, China and ASEAN trade will grow from 105.9 billion US dollars last year to 200 billion US dollars.

    "With steady progress in the development of a China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA), we have full confidence in meeting the target of US$200 billion in annual trade volume by 2010," said the Chinese president.

    China and ASEAN will begin to cut their tariffs from July 1 this year as a step to build the CAFTA. Hu said China hopes to expand cooperation with ASEAN nations in areas of agriculture, fishing, infrastructure construction, energy development and tourism.

    China and ASEAN have decided to develop a strategic partnership for peace and development. Besides trade, Hu said, China will also work actively with the ASEAN nations to implement relevant actionsfor the partnership.

    "We hope to carry out intra-regional security and strategic dialogue, and ...step up cooperation in such non-traditional security areas as counter-terrorism, combating transnational crimes, maritime safety, health and disease prevention as well as disaster prevention and reduction," he said.

    In addition, the Chinese president promised that China will support the ASEAN decision to hold the first East Asia Summit at the end of this year and "work with ASEAN to make the Summit a success."

    Hu arrived in Manila on Tuesday for a two-day state visit to the Philippines. He talked with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo earlier Wednesday and they agreed to establish a "strategic cooperative relationship for peace and development."

    The two presidents also witnessed the signing of a dozen agreements and documents to cement their cooperation in areas of finance, trade, investment, economic and technological cooperation,transportation, energy and personnel. Enditem