The 10th Summit between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) opened on Sunday in Cebu, the second largest city of the Philippines.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and leaders of the 10 ASEAN member countries attended the summit, focusing on discussions over practical cooperation.

At the summit, Wen will deliver a speech entitled "Working Together to Open a New Chapter in China-ASEAN Relations."

In line with the consensus reached by leaders at the Commemorative Summit Marking the 15th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations held in the southern Chinese city of Nanning last October, the Chinese premier will put forward a batch of specific proposals at the 10th China-ASEAN Summit so as to further consolidate and enhance the bilateral strategic partnership for peace and prosperity.

The two sides will sign a series of cooperative documents including The Agreement on Trade in Services of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

ASEAN, established on Aug. 8, 1967 in Bangkok, now groups Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

The "10+1" meeting is a mechanism to strengthen dialogue and communication, discuss cooperation, and promote peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

The ASEAN-China dialogue relations was launched in 1991. China became ASEAN's full dialogue partner in 1996. The two sides established the strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in 2003.

Recent years have witnessed the rapid and comprehensive growth of ASEAN-China relations, which have yielded fruitful outcomes through extensive and in-depth exchanges and cooperation between the two sides in political, economic, trade, social, cultural and other fields.

China-ASEAN trade has grown rapidly. The two-way trade volume in 2006 reached 160.8 billion U.S. dollars, up by 23.4 percent over the previous year. China and ASEAN are now the fourth biggest trading partners of each other.

The Chinese premier arrived in Cebu on Saturday to attend a series of leaders' meetings. He will also pay an official visit to the Philippines. It was the fourth time for Wen to attend such ASEAN-related summits since 2003.

Source: Xinhua