A senior official said in Beijing on Thursday that China has strong hopes to raise information and telecommunications sector cooperation with ASEAN (the Association of South East Asian Nations).

Vice-Premier Huang Ju told ASEAN ministers during "China-ASEAN ICT Week," which opened yesterday, that more potential avenues for cooperation should be explored on the basis of "equality, friendship and mutual benefit."

The weeklong event was proposed by Premier Wen Jiabao last year, the theme being to build on IT sector partnerships to promote common development.

China's IT industry has grown rapidly over the past decade. The total number of telephone subscribers reached 674 million by March, the largest in the world. The number of internet subscribers reached 94 million, the second largest in the world.

China and ASEAN have highly complementary IT sectors, said analysts, and have developed closer economic and political ties recently, establishing a strategic partnership and aiming to form a free trade area by 2010.

China-ASEAN trade reached US$105.8 billion last year, making ASEAN China's fourth largest trading partner.

Cooperation in the IT sector is one the five key areas of China-ASEAN cooperation in the 21st century, according to a memorandum signed in 2001. The two sides have since signed a number of agreements to outline cooperation.

Ministry of Information Industry officials said China's IT trade with ASEAN has grown quickly, and China has begun a program to train 500 IT professionals for ASEAN countries.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2005)