Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R, front) is welcomed upon his arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, Nov. 20, 2015. Li arrived here Friday for a series of leaders' meetings on East Asian cooperation and an official visit to Malaysia.[Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's ongoing visit to Malaysia, during which he will attend the East Asian leaders' meetings, comes at a time when China and other East Asian countries are beefing up efforts to deepen economic integration.

One of the highlights in Kuala Lumpur is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a proposed collective free trade agreement (FTA) between the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and six countries with which ASEAN has individual FTAs: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

The RCEP deal is entering its final stage after three years of negotiations, and, if achieved, will be a catalyst for regional economic integration.