Delegates from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, and other countries participating in the country's Belt and Road Initiative kicked off the annual China-ASEAN Expo on Saturday in Nanning in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The event is meant to highlight the trade and investments amongst the member countries and to promote further friendly cooperation.
The 16th Annual China-ASEAN Expo, which will last until Tuesday this week, will feature a number of exhibitions, activities, and forums from member countries. The exhibitions and activities are meant to promote China-ASEAN cooperation in various industries such as digital economy, science and technologies, investments, trade, e-commerce, finance, and tourism.
According to the event's organizers, around 2,848 companies have signed up to participate in this year's expo. The companies' will be showcasing their various products to attendees, with the hopes of forming new business partnerships. The number of participants this year had reportedly jumped by 2.4 percent when compared to the event last year.
To make room for the increased number of participants, organizers have expanded this year's venue by around 10,000 square meters. The larger exhibition area this year is reportedly around 134,000 square meters.
Special exhibitions are also being featured at the event, most of which are meant to advance the implementation of key projects in the region. The special exhibitions include plans for the building of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, the Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone, and the financial opening-up gateway for ASEAN nations.
This year, organizers made the event revolve around China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative as indicated in this year's theme - "Building the Belt & Road, Realizing Our Vision for a Community of Shared Future."
Apart from the focus on China's Belt and Road Initiative, the event is also meant to further promote the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership Vision 2030. To achieve this goal, the event is meant to become a platform to facilitate consensus and cooperation amongst key players from various countries and international organizations.
Since its inception in 2004, the China-ASEAN Expo has managed to significantly boost trading between its member nations. China is currently the ASEAN's largest trading partner. Last year, trade between the two had reached around $587.8 billion.
China mainly exports items such as electronic products, construction materials, machinery, and power equipment, while it imports mainly food, bulk commodities, and daily goods from ASEAN nations. For the first half of this year, import and export trade volumes had reached $291.85 billion. This is a 4.2 percent increase when compared to the same period last year.
