Regional economic cooperation within Asia is well founded and has accounted for a larger part of economic activities in the region, a senior Chinese trade official said Thursday at a forum in Tokyo.

"The close connections, inter-complementarity and inter- dependence between Asian economies provide a solid foundation for Asian regional economic cooperation," said Shi Guangsheng, Chairman of China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment.
In a speech at an international conference on the Future of Asia, Shi noted that Asia, particular East Asia, is well on the way to develop its regional economy.

"The proportion of intra-region trade in East Asia to all trade in the region rose from 33 percent in 1984 to 56 percent in 2005," he said.

Shi said that various forms of intra-region cooperation have been developed, which include the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus China, Japan and South Korea; ASEAN and India; as well as East Asia Summit forms.

In an earlier speech at the forum, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called for the prompt conclusion of an East Asian free trade agreement as the first step toward creating an East Asian Community.

"We are well behind in realizing our initiative to build an East Asia free trade area," said Badawi. 

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone also envisaged an economic cooperation organization in the East Asia, which comprises 18 countries -- the ten ASEAN member nations plus Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, the United States and Russia.

Nakasone said that the organization should promote cooperation among member nations' central banks, the establishment of a regional free trade system and tie-ups among regional industries through the use of information technology.

Political and economic leaders as well as experts from 13 countries including China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and others attend and speak at the two-day forum.

The theme of this year's conference on Future of Asia is "The Road to an 'Asian Community' -- Concepts and Prospects."

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