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MANILA, Aug. 6-- The foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) commended on Sunday the growing role of China in this region, saying the region continues to reap the fruits of China's strong economic growth. In a joint communique of the 50th ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting, the ministers also stressed the need for more economic integration between ASEAN and China and the need to have more high-level dialogues and exchanges. "We acknowledged China's growing role in the region and highlighted that China's economic growth continues to benefit the region," the ministers said. "We called on both sides to continue promoting economic integration. We looked forward to more high-level dialogues and exchanges between ASEAN and China," the ministers said. The ministers also welcomed the entry into force of the Protocol to Amend the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Certain Agreements thereunder between ASEAN and China (ACFTA Upgrade Protocol) and looked forward to the early ratification of the protocol by the remaining parties. "This will help support the twin goals to reach a two-way trade and investment of 1 trillion U.S. dollars and 150 billion U.S. dollars respectively by 2020," the communique said. The ministers also noted "with satisfaction" the progress made in the implementation of the ASEAN-China Air Transport Agreement (AC-ATA). | 
