This crucial forum is the first international event jointly organised by the ASEAN secretariat board, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the economic administrative agencies of the 10 ASEAN member countries after the ACFTA started operation in 1^st January to evaluate the progress in creating ACFTA and propose solutions for economic cooperation, investment and commercial exchange between the host and the ASEAN members in the coming time.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Head of the Vietnamese delegation and also Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu, said that as the global and regional economy has not fully recovered, the timely implementation of ACFTA related commitments has demonstrated strong determination and belief in making ACFTA action against protectionism in all forms more realistic.

As the chairman of ASEAN in 2010, Vietnam will further push for cooperation among members of the Association as well as between ASEAN and its partners including China.

More than 400 government officials, diplomats, experts, scholars and representatives from the ASEAN secretariat board and various economic groups from China, France and Japan are attending the forum.

ACFTA is the largest commercial region worldwide created by developing countries with a total population of 2 billion and with a trade revenue in 2008 of more than US$230 billion. Its average economic growth is 24.2 percent per year.