China and 10 Southeast Asian countries have agreed to create a free trade area (FTA) within 10 years, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the end of two-day summit in Brunei on Tuesday. Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji took the decision along with counterparts from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to hitch their economies together to create a vast market of over 1.7 billion people.

"China and ASEAN have decided that within 10 years they will establish a free trade area between China and ASEAN," Wang Yi said, adding that officials were instructed to start negotiations immediately. Bureau Report