Japan is to propose an action plan to form a comprehensive economic alliance, including free trade accords, with the ASEAN members, a daily said Monday.

The proposal will be made when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visits five members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in early January, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, quoting government sources.

The Japanese government is expected to hold a working-level meeting in late January with ASEAN counterparts to begin drawing up the action plan, the mass-circulation daily said.

Tokyo hopes the proposed alliance will be launched in five to 10 years, the newspaper said.

The plan is part of Japan's effort to secure its economic position in Asia, where China is enhancing its

presence by speeding up dialogue with ASEAN members, the daily said.

The action plan is to clarify procedures in talks over the alliance by setting a range of cooperation among signed members and a deadline for its conclusion, the newspaper said.

Japan hopes the alliance will include free trade accords, mutual investment agreements, energy security treaties and a framework designed to protect intellectual property, it said.

Japan plans to call for official approval of the plan when Japanese and ASEAN leaders are to hold a meeting in Cambodia in late 2002, it said.

Japan had previously favored multilateral pacts in bodies such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but is now shifting its focus to free trade accords.