BANGKOK - China will continue to work in close collaboration with its Asian neighbors to expand market integration in the region, Jin Liqun, chairman of the Board of Supervisory of the China Investment Corporation (CIC), said on Monday.

"China has always attached great importance to enhancing cooperation among Asian economies," Jin said in his prepared speech delivered at the Chin Sophonpanich Memorial Lecture hosted by Thailand's Bangkok Bank.

He said beginning this year, China slashed tariffs for imported goods from the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to zero.

According to statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce, in the first half of this year, China's trade volume with ASEAN countries reached over $100 billion, representing an increase of 58 percent compared to the same period of last year.

Jin said China has set up China-ASEAN fund, which is intended to finance infrastructural development in ASEAN countries.

He said CIC has put its resources into this fund, and will continue to increase the funding as it goes forward.

"Continued development in Asian countries calls for increased investment in infrastructure" Jin said in his speech.

However, he said integration of Asian nations still lagged behind that of the European Union both in terms of depth and scale.

source:Xinhua