An existing free trade agreement (FTA) between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China has been expanded following discussions.

The changes to the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) were agreed on November 22nd 2015 and aim to generate two-way trade worth $1 trillion (£663.28 billion) and investment of $150 billion by the year 2020.

With the expanded FTA, China will enhance its services in construction engineering, securities, travel agencies and tourism operators, while ASEAN members have agreed to further open their service sectors to China.

Two-way trade between China and ASEAN has grown nearly 50-fold since 1991, making China the top trading partner of almost every ASEAN nation.

A statement from the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry said: "It is important that the scope and content of ACFTA continue to grow in line with the current regional and global economic landscape and are comparable to other modern free trade agreements."