Silk Road to bring China and Asean closer
JOINT EFFORTS in building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road are seen as very important for cooperation between China and Asean.
As a step along this road, the 13th China-Asean Expo and the China-Asean Business and Investment Summit are taking place in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China.CAEXPO and CABIS kicked off on Sunday and end today.
The opening ceremony was led by Chinese First Deputy Premier Zhang Gaoli, accompanied by the leaders of Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines and other countries.
Laotian Deputy Prime Minister Dr Sonexay Siphandone gave a speech at the opening ceremony on Sunday morning, saying the building of the Maritime Silk Road would bring China and the Asean Community closer to a common destiny.
In 2015 China was Asean’s largest trade partner, with two-way trade volume of more than US$346 billion, while direct investment from China into Asean was about $8.2 billion, he said.
This year China and Asean are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations.
The 13th CAEXPO not only highlights the Silk Road initiative, but features exhibitions that are enriched with innovation in science and technology, metallurgy and building materials and financial services, aiming at practically strengthening cooperation in industrial capacity, equipment manufacturing, economy, trade and investment between China and Asean.
Some 2,669 exhibiting enterprises are participating in CAEXPO. Among them, 1,020 are international exhibitors, up by 14.4 per cent from last year’s event. Asean exhibitors are staffing 1,460 booths, up by 17 per cent over last year, while 954 enterprises from Asean countries are also present as exhibitors.
Seven Asean member countries chartered exhibition halls for their commodity pavilions, namely Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Exhibitors from 31 countries outside the China-Asean region applied for participation, of which 65 enterprises from 18 countries were approved, including Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates and other countries along the “Belt and Road” routes.
This year the number of booths from Laos increased from 80 to 163, featuring food and beverages, handicrafts, Laotian textiles and herbal medicines.
Bangkok was named as a “City of Charm”. Others places receiving similar designations were Fuzhou in China, Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei, Koh Kong province |in Cambodia, the Indonesian Archipelago, Attapeu in Laos, Terengganu in Malaysia, Mawlamyine in Myanmar, General Santos City in the Philippines, Singapore, and Buon Ma Thuot in Vietnam.
There are more than 1,000 flights between China and Asean weekly.
