HONG KONG, Dec. 13 -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will benefit a lot from the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, experts said here Saturday.

The maritime silk road, which was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping last year, runs through the Straight of Malacca to India, the Middle East and East Asia,

Abdul Majit Ahmad Khan, president of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association, said at the first ASEAN Development Forum that maritime cooperation between ASEAN and China constitute a vital linkage in connectivity between the two.

"China's proposal to build a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road could be a potential boost and catalyst for infrastructure development in the ASEAN region. It fits into ASEAN's own integration and connectivity strategies," he said.

Sumet Ongkittikul, research director for Transportation and Logistics Policy of the Thailand Development Research Institute, said regional trade has been growing rapidly in Asia, especially after the ASEAN Free Trade Area was established in 1992. Bilateral trade between ASEAN and China grew five folds from 78 billion U.S. Dollars in 2003 to 443.6 billion dollars in 2013.

Regional connectivity will become stronger with the fast- developing transport network and several commendable proposals initiated by China such as the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, he added.

Sun Xiaoying, researcher of the Southeast Asia Research Institute of Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, said how the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road will benefit grassroots people in countries along the road calls for the wisdom of the policy makers and the ability of scholars to do in-depth research.

The forum, hosted by Xinhua News Agency Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau, had discussions on four major topics: building common destiny with strategic mutual trust, deepening economic and trade cooperation with upgraded China-ASEAN free trade area, enhancing connectivity with the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and working toward an ASEAN community with practical cooperation.

Government officials, experts and business leaders from the 10 ASEAN countries, China's mainland and China's Hong Kong attended the forum.

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