China will work closely with Asian countries to step up regional cooperation to make Asia an important engine of world economic recovery and growth, a senior Chinese diplomat said Sunday.

In an interview with Xinhua, Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue said China enjoyed enhanced political trust and vigorous trade links with other Asian countries in 2010, citing frequent high-level visits.

China-Asia trade increased 36.6 percent year on year to 791.5 billion US dollars in the first 11 months of 2010, he noted.

"China remained the largest export market for Asian countries," he said, adding that China's imports from Asian countries totaled 446.5 billion U.S. dollars in the same period, up 41.1 percent year on year.

The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, established on Jan. 1, 2010, is the largest one among developing countries, he said, adding that it significantly accelerates flows of capital, materials, technology and human resources.

China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) will complete a joint study on their proposed FTA by 2012.

While enhancing economic and financial cooperation with Asian countries, China offered disaster relief aid to Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia, Hu noted, adding that it also made preferential loans to less developed nations including Bangladesh, Cambodia and Laos.

"We are committed to working with countries in the region to promote the building of roads, railways and ports, to further step up our win-win cooperation," said Hu.

"With multi-polarization and economic globalization, changes have occurred in Asia's economy and politics, yet peace, stability, cooperation and development remain the mainstream values of Asia," he said.

He said that friendship, mutual trust and respect are still the most fundamental characteristics of relations among Asian nations.

"We are convinced that as long as Asian countries stick to development paths suited to their conditions and advance regional cooperation, they will certainly better control their destinies and achieve great progress," he added.