By Fan Yuelong

    CEBU, Philippines, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- As a neighboring dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China has furthered regional cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, and political security along with the 10 ASEAN members during a series of summit meetings which are scheduled to conclude here Monday afternoon.

    Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attended the 10th ASEAN-China Summit on Sunday and the 2nd East Asia Summit on Monday, when he and leaders of the 10 ASEAN member countries witnessed the signing of The Agreement on Trade in Services of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

    The signing marked a key step forward in the building of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA) and laid the foundation for full and scheduled completion of the China-ASEAN FTA, which was launched in 2004 and scheduled to be completed by 2010, involving a total population of 1.8 billion.

    Following the milestone agreement, which will enter into force in July 2007, to further reduce access restrictions on domestic service industry, the service trade between China and ASEAN is expected to grow by a large margin, Lu Jianren, an economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said prior to the ASEAN-China Summit.

    In addition, while addressing the leaders of 10 ASEAN countries at the Summit, Wen said China will favorably consider setting up in ASEAN countries a number of economic and trade zones which have sound infrastructure and complete industrial chains.

    "I hope this will bring the China-ASEAN win-win cooperation and common development to a higher level," Wen said.

    Another blueprint for the regional development is the China-ASEAN rail link, a major part of the 81,000-km Pan-Asian railway network. China will accelerate construction of the Chinese section of the Kunming-Singapore railway to help complete the China-ASEAN link's construction at an early time, Wen told the ASEAN leaders in the same address.

    During the summit, China and ASEAN also inked two documents, which are expected to broaden cooperation of both sides in the fields of information technology and agricultural industries that encourage even more investment, officials said.

    While the ASEAN Summit announced its postponement due to a typhoon on last Dec. 8, Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai and ASEAN economic and trade ministers pushed through their meetings and signed two protocols to further cooperation.

    "We and China made great progress on that stormy night," recalled ASEAN Summit spokesman Ambassador Victoriano Lecaros, referring to the trade talks between ASEAN and its dialogue partner.

    The two protocols have solved certain remaining problems by amending the two existing agreements, Chinese official told Xinhua. These supplementary agreements are conducive to the smooth implementation of the China-ASEAN agreement on trade in goods and to the development and perfection of the building of the FTA, they added.

    Days before the meetings of Heads of State, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and his ASEAN counterparts agreed to further cooperation and to implement the agreements and joint communique made in Nanning, China, by the leaders of both sides, in order to strengthen political trust and deepen economic and trade relations, as well as open cooperation fields in non-conventional security cooperation, and push forward dialogue in the social and human fields.

    China supports the efforts of ASEAN countries to build a regional community, Li said, adding that China backs ASEAN's cooperation with China, South Korea and Japan as the main channel for pushing forward the cooperation of East Asian countries.

    More cooperation of the East Asia in the fields of political security, social development and personnel exchanges at the basic level of the society are also anticipated, Li added.

    The first China-ASEAN peace-keeping workshop is scheduled to start in the second half of this year, in order to further promote defense cooperation and enhance mutual understanding and confidence among the militaries of China and ASEAN countries, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said as he met with the ASEAN leaders separately.

    Wen also proposed that China and ASEAN actively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, which was signed by both sides a few years ago, so as to promote practical cooperation and joint development in the South China Sea and ensure its stability.

    Founded in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. China and the Southeast Asian Group established dialogue partnership in 1991.