Chinese Vice Premier, Wu Yi, says enterprises and private companies should play a bigger role in the regional economy and create more opportunities for economic development.

Wu made the comments yesterday, at the opening of the first China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The four-day China-ASEAN Expo and summit will strengthen ties between China and ASEAN countries and speed up the development of a China-ASEAN free trade agreement.

In 2003, the trade between China and ASEAN countries was valued at 78.2 billion US dollars, making ASEAN China's fifth largest trade partner and the biggest one in the developing world.

(CRI.com November 4, 2004)