China-ASEAN expo elevates cooperation

The 16th China-ASEAN expo, held from Saturday to Tuesday, elevated the friendly cooperation between China and ASEAN countries to a new level through a sequence of exhibitions, forums and activities, said the organizer on Tuesday in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Wang Lei, secretary-general of the expo's secretariat, said at the closing ceremony that the high-profile event also advanced important international cooperation mechanisms, such as the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, as well as further promote the Belt and Road Initiative.

The exhibition area reached 134,000 square meters this year, expanding 10,000 square meters from last year. ASEAN countries brought 1,548 of the 5,400 total exhibition booths in the main exhibition center.

According to the organizers, 2,848 enterprises participated in this year's expo to showcase their products, up 2.4 percent from the event last year.

A total of 131 enterprises from 20 countries along Belt and Road routes also participated in the exhibition, while the "Belt and Road" exhibition area saw a 59 percent increase year-on-year.

Poland attended the expo as a special partner of this year's event. Polish special foods, agricultural products, handicrafts, and service products are favored by buyers from China and ASEAN countries.

"The event has greatly promoted the economic and trade between China and ASEAN countries through 90 trade and investment promotion activities," Wang Lei said.

One Chinese enterprise successfully signed a hydropower project valued at $1 billion with Indonesia during the event, according to Wang.

China has remained ASEAN's largest trading partner. In the first half of this year, the bilateral import and export trade volume reached $291.85 billion, an increase of 4.2 percent year-on-year, making ASEAN China's second-largest trading partner.