Negotiations to upgrade the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) are expected to be concluded by the end of this year, Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Yan said. China is negotiating details on services and goods trading, as well as investment and technology collaboration with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Three rounds of meetings have been held since formal negotiations began in August 2014. Bilateral trade between China and ASEAN rose by 1.6% year-on-year to USD224.38 billion in the first half of this year. Trade with ASEAN accounted for about 12% of China’s total foreign trade, and the country is now the region’s largest trading partner. ASEAN is China’s third-biggest trading partner, with bilateral trade between the two worth USD480.1 billion in 2014, up 8.23% from a year earlier. The region hopes to achieve bilateral trade with China worth USD500 billion by the end of this year and USD1 trillion by 2020, with two-way investment levels of USD150 billion by 2020, the China Daily reports.