Top diplomats are gathering in Singapore for a foreign ministers' meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. Trade issues are taking the spotlight, as the US insists on its protectionist trade strategies. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has spoken up about China's tense trading relations with the US during the meeting. Wang Qiwei has the details.

A busy day for Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Singapore. From attending the ASEAN opening ceremony to meeting his Russian and Japanese counterparts. The 10-member bloc is seeking to integrate trade and improve economic cooperation, all this while China faces more tariffs from the US.

WANG YI CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER "Addressing one's trade disputes with other countries on accounts of one's domestic law, and seeking to use unilateral activities without one's own concerns are in violation of the basic rules of the WTO. They are running against the trend of the times and are not moving in a right direction. Instead of achieving one's own goal by doing this, we believe it will only hurt the interests of oneself."

At the opening ceremony of the meeting on Thursday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stressed the need to support the multilateral trading system.

LEE HSIEN LOONG SINGAPOREAN PRIME MINISTER "Trade tensions between the US and our other dialogue partners including China, the EU and Canada have escalated. The rules-based multilateral trading system, which has underpinned ASEAN's growth and prosperity, is under pressure. It's important that ASEAN continues to support the multilateral system and work with like-minded partners to deepen our web of cooperation."

China has been ASEAN's largest trading partner in the last nine years. Trade volume surpassed 500 billion US dollars last year. That's six times more than what it was 15 years ago, when the strategic partnership was first established. Two-way investment over the past 15 years totaled more than 200-billion US dollars. And more than 4-thousand enterprises were established through direct investment, creating some 300-thousand jobs. Undergoing negotiation right now is the trade deal know as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or R-CEP.

VIVIAN BALAKRISHNAN SINGAPOREAN FOREIGN MINISTER "ASEAN has to remain a testament to the benefits of free trade and economic integration. That's why the RCEP is important, and in fact free trade and economic integration has been a recipe for peace and prosperity in Southeast Asia over the last five to seven decades."

Singapore's prime minister said he hoped R-CEP, which involves 16-nations, could be finalized by the end of the year. If achieved, it will become the largest free-trade agreement in the world, covering about half of its population. And by then, perhaps, new trading relationships will have to be considered. WQW, CGTN.