China Daily launched its Southeast Asian edition on Friday as part of ongoing efforts to provide tailor-made services to global readers.

The China Daily Asian Weekly ASEAN Edition marks a significant milestone in the overseas growth of China Daily and joins the paper's international stable of publications in the United States, Europe and Africa.

"We believe that China seeks even closer ties with its neighbors, and we want to present our ASEAN readers a fuller picture of China," said Zhu Ling, China Daily's publisher and editor-in-chief.

The 32-page, compact-size weekly will be circulated throughout Southeast Asia and will also be available in digital format.

The all-color weekly will look at the precise nature of Chinese involvement in the region and also the prominent role many Southeast Asians are playing in China.

The weekly marks the media group's effort to diversify its coverage by better serving target readers in accordance with their regions and reading habits. It is the latest addition to China Daily's publications in the Asia-Pacific, which include a daily in Hong Kong.

The launch of the weekly comes amid growing relations between China and ASEAN. Trade between China and the 10-member bloc exceeded $400 billion last year, an increase of 10.2 percent year-on-year, compared with the 6.2 percent growth of China's overall foreign trade.

The China Daily Group is an authoritative provider of information, analysis, comment and entertainment to global readers. China Daily has firmly established itself as the leading English-language news organization in China since its founding in 1981.

(China DailyUSA 05/31/2013 page2)