China-ASEAN Free Trade Area:Ready? Go!

At the beginning of 2010,the overall start of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area(CAFTA) came as a milestone in the annals of China-ASEAN relations,and it may well serve as a model for regional cooperation not only in Asia,but also other parts of the world. The large Zone,encompassing a population of 1.9 billion people,ranks behind only the European Economic Area and the North American Free Trade Area in terms of trade volume.The new FTA has brought together developing countries in the region with a combined gross domestic product(GDP) of up to US$6 trillion and total trade volume of US$4.5 trillion.The free trade area is expected to help ASEAN countries increase exports,particularly those with commodities that resource-hungry China desperately wants.