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Regional trade: ASEAN mulls China pact

Southeast Asian trade and economic ministers gathered yesterday at a hill resort 950m above sea level for a weekend of discussions about the region's financial future -- including a pact with China that would create the world's largest free-trade area. ASEAN has agreed to work with China toward creating the free-trade zone within 10 years. It would be the world's largest, with a combined market of 1.7 billion people and gross domestic product of US$2 trillion. ASEAN was the world's fastest-growing region economically before the crisis, but has since seen foreign investment in Asia migrate northward to China.
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