Over the past 12 months trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for China has taken off and risen by 21.6 percent as a result of reduced tariffs under the group's free trade deals.
  
Chong Quan, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Commerce didn't give the actual trade volume between China and ASEAN saying only that the arrangements further facilitate economic and trade ties between China and ASEAN.
 
The total trade volume between China and ASEAN hit a record high of US$130.4 billion last year.
  
China and the 10 members of ASEAN signed historic trade agreements last November to pave the way for the world's biggest free-trade zone by 2010 -- a customer base of approximately 2 billion people.
 
In a media interview on the first anniversary of the arrangements Chong said he expected trade volume to increase rapidly over the coming years as further integration of markets would facilitate investment.
  
He said enterprises in China and ASEAN would benefit from lower costs for raw materials while consumers would benefit from a wider choice of goods at lower prices. China cut its average tariffs from 9.9 percent to 8.1 percent last July and the tariff reduction would accelerate after 2007, Chong said.
 
By 2010 China will have lifted tariffs on 93 percent of goods from ASEAN who in turn will lift tariffs on 90 percent of Chinese goods.
 
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2006)