People walk out of the venue of the 18th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)
BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- The 18th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit wrapped up on Monday in Nanning, the capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, witnessing a slew of national and international cooperation projects, important initiatives and indicators.
The fruitful results during the four-day event herald a new era of deeper cooperation based on the solid foundation accumulated in the past 30 years since China and ASEAN established dialogue relations in 1991.
-- Fruitful CAEXPO
The CAEXPO, which has been held annually since 2004, was held both online and offline this year amid the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, gaining much attention and support from the political and business communities at home and abroad.
With an exhibition area of more than 100,000 square meters, this year's expo set up 5,400 booths for offline exhibitors. Over 1,500 enterprises participated in the in-person exhibitions, among which are Fortune 500 companies and other leading companies, such as Huawei, while another 1,517 enterprises attended the "cloud CAEXPO".
A total of 179 deals worth a record-high combined value of over 300 billion yuan (about 46.59 billion U.S. dollars) were signed during the expo. The total value marked an increase of 13.7 percent over the previous edition, showed data released by the expo secretariat at the closing ceremony.
A total of 148 economic and trade promotion activities and 26 high-level forums took place during this year's expo, covering industrial chains, industrial capacity cooperation, customs and health.
Other achievements include the release of the China-ASEAN Trade Index, a parameter based on such dimensions as trade closeness, trade quality, trade potential, trade vitality and trade environment. The 2020 index stood at 241.09 points, an increase of 19.64 percent compared with the level of 2019 and up 141.09 percent compared with 2010.
-- New Opportunities
The CAEXPO, aiming at promoting China-ASEAN cooperation at the outset, has presented itself as a key platform for communications and exchanges, extending its reach to wider communities, such as the China-ASEAN (10+1) cooperation, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The progress in infrastructure has been a necessary factor for people-to-people exchange and business development. As a strategic channel connecting the Silk Road Economic Belt in the north, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in the south, and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the New Land-Sea Corridor has become a significant bridge that efficiently links China's domestic market and the international market.
"The New Land-Sea Corridor will further facilitate the economic and trade exchanges between China and ASEAN and other areas and play a greater role in regional development", said Lei Xiaohua, deputy director of the Southeast Asian Institute of Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences.
The China-Laos Railway is also a landmark project under the BRI. "In the future, the China-Laos Railway will be a key driving force for enhancing Laos-China and ASEAN-China cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment, tourism, employment, cultural communication and people-to-people exchanges", said Phankham Viphavanh, Prime Minister of Laos.
--Stronger community with a shared future
The closing of the CAEXPO is not an end but a new beginning. Wang Lei, secretary-general of the China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat, said that the CAEXPO will play a greater role in the comprehensive economic and trade cooperation among China, ASEAN, the East Asia, and the BRI countries.
During the expo, member countries of RCEP have made efforts to promote the agreement. For example, business associations from the RCEP countries co-released an initiative to reach consensuses on many aspects, such as supporting the RCEP countries in accelerating their domestic ratification procedures.
"ASEAN is working hard to promote the early and comprehensive implementation of the RCEP. All signatory countries are going through the ratification of the agreement and made full preparations for fulfilling its obligations under the agreement, said Dato Lim Jock Hoi, ASEAN Secretary-General.
Thirty years on, China-ASEAN relations have kept moving forward, with strategic mutual trust strengthened, all-round cooperation deepened and concrete actions in building a community with a shared future.
Going forward, China will work with ASEAN countries to advance high-quality Belt and Road construction, build a strategic partnership at a higher level, and jointly safeguard the sound momentum of prosperity and development of the region.
(Edited by Li Shimeng with Xinhua Silk Road, lishimeng@xinhua.org)
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