China's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) would open up trade opportunities worth at least US$1.5 trillion in the next five years, Vice President Hu Jintao said Wednesday.

Hu, who arrived in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur Tuesday for the first leg of a three-nation tour that will also take him to the United States.

"Now that China is in the WTO, it will surely provide a much broader market and many more abundant business opportunities to the rest of Asia," he said in a special address at a public forum.

"In the next five years, a more open China will provide its trading partners with opportunities of at least US$1.5 trillion worth of goods."

China's service industry would also be opened gradually to foreign investors, he said.

"As China accelerates the implementation of its 'go global' strategy, it will increase its investment in other Asian countries."

Hu called for deeper cooperation among Asian economies, saying China would continue to be a positive force to build an economically stronger and more stable Asia.

"The top priority for us Asian countries is to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and secure a steady and sustained development," he said.

"China's development would be impossible without Asia and Asia's prosperity without China."

Hu later witnessed the signing of an agreement to establish a China-Malaysia joint business council to enhance trade ties.

He is to meet Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi later Wednesday at the Putrajaya administrative centre.