Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) gathered in Nanning, capital of China's southern Guangxi region, for a one-day summit to celebrate 15 years of official dialogue.

 "During the past 15 years, China and Asean have together gone through the experience of eliminating suspicions and developing dialogue, as well as promoting mutual trust," Wen said at the opening.

 "China and Asean relations are at their historical best."

 Philippines President Gloria Arroyo, chairing the one-day summit with Wen, agreed that political and economic ties between Southeast Asia and China "have never been better."

 "This is an important state of affairs that can only help the region and the world," said Arroyo, whose country is currently chairing Asean.

 The centrepiece of deepening relations between Asean and China is the plan -- officially unveiled four years ago -- to create a massive free trade zone by 2010.

 The China-Asean free trade zone would have a combined population of nearly two billion people and a gross domestic product of around three trillion dollars.

 Wen called for a quickening of the pace of negotiations over the zone.

 "The agreement on trade and goods should be fully implemented and negotiations on trade and service and investment should be accelerated to speed up the process of establishing a China-Asean free trade area," Wen said.

 Arroyo hailed China's economic strength and increasing ties as a boon for Southeast Asia and emphasised the potential of the trading zone.

 "China has surged on the world stage and Asean has surged with it," she said.

 The free trade deal "will help all of our economies grow," she said.

 A joint statement released at the end of the summit said China and Asean remained committed to meeting the 2010 deadline for the zone.

 Wen also said China was willing to expand military and defence ties with Southeast Asia, while also pledging to continue efforts to hammer out a code of conduct for handling territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

 Aside from developing closer ties, the leaders discussed the crisis triggered by North Korea's October 9 atomic test and called on the isolated regime to abandon its atomic program.

 "We jointly advocate the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and demand all parties continue respecting the September 19 joint statement last year on the aim of denuclearization," Wen said after the summit.

 "We call on the early resumption of the six-party talks."

 At the six-nation talks in September last year, North Korea agreed to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for pledges of aid and security.

 However North Korea pulled out of the talks -- which also involve hosts China, South Korea, the United States, Japan and Russia -- three months later because of US financial sanctions imposed against it.

 Political developments in Asean member Thailand were also under the spotlight at the summit, following the September military coup in Bangkok that overthrew elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

 New Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont's attendance at the summit was his first appearance at an international event since being appointed by the military on October 1.

 He used the occasion to reassure his regional colleagues that democracy would return to Thailand within a year, according to Thai Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram.

 "We affirmed our intention fully to return to a very effective democracy, a parliamentary democracy," Nitya told AFP after the summit.

 "We're working with resolve to return to elections and things are proceeding according to plan and that we hope that it will be done within a certain allotted time."

 Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Agence France Presse