BEIJING - China will continue to offer preferential loans to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members to promote the development of infrastructure, agriculture and the communications industry, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

When making that announcement, the ministry did not specify the amounts of the loans. The new commitment comes as a result of the Chinese government's promise, made in April 2009, to provide $1.5 billion in loans to the bloc within the next three to five years. The goal is to promote the social and economic development of the ASEAN members.

With the country's foreign aid fund, "China had trained more than 9,000 professionals from ASEAN countries in financing, agriculture, telecommunications, transportation and media by the end of September, and promoted the economic development and social progress of the region," said Liang Wentao, deputy director of the Ministry of Commerce's department of Asian affairs.

Liang said the first phase of China's financial cooperation with ASEAN - part of the $1.5 billion loan - has been accomplished, and the amount of investment going to ASEAN countries now exceeds $300 million.

During the past 20 years, China has provided aid to ASEAN countries and completed more than 400 infrastructure and social-welfare projects. It has worked for cooperation in agriculture, built railways, roads and bridges and improved telecommunications and transportation.

"The aid coming from China is a reflection of its respect for the recipient countries' wishes and adheres to the principles of equality and mutual benefit," said Zhang Xiangchen, the deputy permanent representative of China to the World Trade Organization. "It is tailored to the recipient countries' needs and plays an important role in increasing production and supplying capacity, alleviating poverty and bringing substantial benefits to the people living in the recipient countries.

"The Chinese government's commitment is to play a leading role in the dedication that is being given to building infrastructure in ASEAN countries," said Yuan Bo, a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce's Chinese academy of international trade and economic cooperation.

"And both China and foreign countries will increase their investments in the bloc, where there is a huge market demand for infrastructure because of the economic development there," Yuan said.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, the ASEAN member states rank at the top of the list of places where Chinese companies most want to expand into. By the end of 2010, the amount of China's direct investment into the ASEAN members had reached $14.4 billion, which was up from $150 million in 1991.

From 1991 to 2010, trade between China and the ASEAN members also increased quickly in value, going from $7.96 billion in 1991 to $292.8 billion last year, an increase of nearly 37 fold.

In 2010, China became ASEAN's biggest trading partner, an outcome brought about in part by the institution of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area in January 2010.

Chinese customs data show that the value of trade between ASEAN members and China increased by 26.4 percent in the first nine months of this year, hitting $267 billion. The group came out with a $18.9 billion surplus in its favor.

"The annual trade volume is expected to surpass $350 billion," said Liang of the Ministry of Commerce.

The two parties also agreed to bring the value of their trade with each other to $500 billion by 2015.

"The China ASEAN Free Trade Area increased rather than decreased the international competitiveness of the ASEAN members, and ASEAN's ability to export to China has become stronger rather than weaker," Premier Wen Jiabao said in October, during the Eighth China-ASEAN Expo held in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.