The 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and five other Asian countries have signed the world's largest trade agreement.

These 15 countries signed the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership" at the Vietnam-hosted virtual ASEAN Summit.

The partnership is a huge free trade agreement between the 10 member states of Asean - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - and Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. It does not include the United States.

partnership member-states account for some 30% of both the world's population and the gross domestic product - about $38 trillion - effectively making it the world's largest trade bloc. The partnership will be bigger than both the European Union and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement.

The comprehensive agreement will lower tariffs and enhance access to the services sector. It will also help attract investors outside the Indo-Pacific region because it will create an integrated market that includes China, the world's second largest. It will make the bloc's exports to the rest of the world more competitive.

India was invited to join but withdrew from the talks in 2019 out of concern the elimination of tariffs would open its markets to a flood of cheap imports from China. The bloc, however, has said it will welcome India should this country decide to join later on.

The partnership was conceived at the 2011 Asean summit in Bali.

Singaporean prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, who led Singapore's delegation, praised the signing of the partnership  as a "major milestone."

"We have reached a major milestone of signing this agreement," said Lee. "It has taken us eight years, 46 negotiating meetings and 19 ministerial meetings to get here. I am very grateful for the tireless efforts of ministers and negotiators from all participating countries who have worked so hard during the process."

Lee described the partnership as a step forward for the world at a time when multilateralism is losing ground and world growth is slowing. Now, however, "the hard work of implementing the agreement and encouraging our businesses to take full advantage of it begins."

Malaysia's trade minister Mohamed Azmin Ali said "after eight years of negotiating with blood, sweat and tears we have finally come to the moment where we will seal the agreement."

"I am delighted to say that after eight years of hard work we have officially brought negotiations to a conclusion for signing," said Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.