A forum for the China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Free Trade Area kicked off on January 7 in Nanning, capital of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The two-day event to celebrate the establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA), which started operating on January 1, 2010, sought to explore closer trade and investment cooperation among the involved nations.

The CAFTA covers a population of 1.9 billion people and handles a $4.5-trillion trade volume. It is the world's largest FTA for developing countries, the third largest FTA after the North American Free Trade Area and the European Union. The average tariff on goods from ASEAN countries to China was cut to 0.1 percent from 9.8 percent.