On August 4, 2009, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue met with a joint press delegation composed of 15 senior editors and journalists from nine of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) .

Hu made positive comments on relations between China and ASEAN countries. He said that over the past decade, the political trust, trade cooperation and humanities exchanges between China and ASEAN countries have reached an unprecedented level. Both sides have effectively coped with various challenges and difficulties in the process of cooperation and common development and have jointly shaped and safeguarded peace, prosperity and stability of the region. The situation deserves to be cherished by both sides, he added. The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) covering a huge market of 2 billion people will be officially launched on January 1, 2010, which will undoubtedly open up broader prospect for the development of China-ASEAN relations, said Hu.

Hu also took questions from the journalists on such issues as the challenges facing China-ASEAN relations in the new period, unified Southeast Asian currency, as well as the impact of the financial crisis on China's assistance to and investment in ASEAN.

The press delegation is visiting China at the invitation of the Information Department of the Foreign Ministry. Besides Beijing, they will also visit Jiangsu for reporting.