SINGAPORE, May 11: A first round of talks aimed at creating what will be the world’s biggest free trade zone, encompassing China and South East Asia, will be held in Beijing next week, Singapore’s trade ministry said on Saturday.

A Singapore delegation will be in the Chinese capital from May 15-16 to start talks on a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between China and the ten-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the ministry said.

Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China last year agreed to work out an FTA within the next 10 years, a move that could result in an integrated market of nearly two billion people, a third of the planet’s population.

Last month, visiting Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao and Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong called for early negotiations on the proposed agreement that would cover 10 Southeast Asian countries as well as China.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Singapore also confirmed Saturday that it had been approached by Taiwan about a free trade deal city state and the island.

Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) previously proposed to Singapore an FTA with the separate custom territories of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, the statement said.

It said Singapore has studied the proposal and is prepared to proceed with a joint study to explore the feasibility of an FTA within the framework of the World Trade Organization and the goals of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The small but affluent and trade-dependent city-state has been spearheading a flurry of FTA negotiations beyond its borders. It has signed agreements with New Zealand and Japan and is in the thick of talks with the United States and Australia, with which it will hold a seventh round of negotiations from May 20-24.

The trade ministry said it expected the trade deal with Japan to take effect in the middle of the year following the adoption of the necessary legislation in both countries.—AFP