Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang declares the opening of the China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, capital city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Tuesday, October 20, 2009. [Photo: Xinhua]

Chinese economy is maintaining a sound development and witnessing rising economic growth on a monthly basis, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said Tuesday.

The remarks were made at the opening ceremony of the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, which was held simultaneously with the China-ASEAN Expo from Oct. 20 to 24 in Nanning, capital city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Li also mentioned that ASEAN members had reined in economic downturn, and the positive changes in the economies of both China and ASEAN members were benefited from effective stimulus packages and closer economic cooperation.

With the establishment of the China-ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund that provides 15 billion U.S.dollars of credit to ASEAN countries in the next three to five years, and the currency swap agreements with Indonesia and Malasia, China had strengthened economic ties with ASEAN members to overcome the crisis and had seen initial achievements, he said.

Li pointed out that China and ASEAN members have been sharing deepening economic ties and are currently each other's fourth biggest trade partners.

In the face of the global financial crisis, the two sides had seen bilateral trade volume nearing 150 billion U.S.dollars and mutual investments reaching 60 billion U.S.dollars in the first nine months of this year, he said.

A Free Trade Area(FTA) between China and ASEAN will also be realized by January 1, 2010 with a population of 1.9 billion, a trade volume of 4.5 trillion U.S.dollars and a combined GDP of 6 trillion U.S.dollars.

The annual China-ASEAN Expo was proposed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in 2003 as a platform for elites in this region to exchange views on accelerating economic development and create a better trade environment.