Japan is considering establishing an East Asia free-trade zone well ahead of 2010, Japanese trade ministry officials said Saturday.

The envisioned free-trade zone, which would hope to take advantage of an integrated market of 2 billion people, would encompass Japan and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The grouping, dubbed by Japanese officials as "ASEAN plus five," would represent a third of the world's population and would seek to liberalize trade and investment in East Asia's vast markets, the officials said.