China ASEAN Joins Hands for 20 Years in Destiny and Creating Future Cooperation | ASEAN | China

On the banks of the Yongjiang River, under the hibiscus flowers. The green city of Nanning in golden autumn is lush with vegetation and all things are beautiful.

The 20th China ASEAN Expo, carrying the dream of win-win cooperation between China and ASEAN countries, will be held in Nanning from September 16th to 19th. Leaders of China and ASEAN countries will stand at a new starting point to discuss cooperation plans and push bilateral cooperation to a higher level.

Building platforms, facilitating channels, and enhancing exchanges... Over the past 20 years, the East China Expo has established a coordination and cooperation mechanism between China and ASEAN in multiple fields. The 11 countries have joined hands and headed towards the future, accelerating the construction of a closer China ASEAN community with a shared future. The cooperation between the two sides has brought more certainty to the uncertain world and injected more positive energy into world and regional peace, stability, development, and prosperity.

The "10+1>11" East China Expo has achieved fruitful results in the past 20 years

In 2003, at the 7th China ASEAN 10+1 Leaders Meeting in Bali, Indonesia, China ASEAN established a strategic partnership for peace and prosperity, opening a new chapter in friendly relations between the two sides. At this meeting, the Chinese side proposed to hold the China ASEAN Expo annually in Nanning, Guangxi.

As a concrete action to promote the construction of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area, this initiative has been widely welcomed by leaders of ASEAN countries and included in the Presidential Statement issued after the meeting. In 2004, the first East China Expo was successfully held and permanently settled in Nanning.

The China ASEAN Expo and the Business and Investment Summit are not only major platforms for effective cooperation in various fields such as economy and trade jointly built by China and the 10 ASEAN countries, but also boosters for the construction of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area, bringing tangible benefits to both sides' enterprises and people, and playing an increasingly important role in China ASEAN cooperation.

Over the past 20 years, the East China Expo, co hosted by the economic and trade authorities of the governments of China and 10 ASEAN countries, as well as the ASEAN Secretariat, and hosted by the government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has become an important platform for communication and cooperation between China and ASEAN. China and ASEAN countries have jointly contributed to the grand cooperation event, built a win-win platform, and bloomed a colorful flower of cooperation and win-win.

The CAEXPO adopts the mode of "the government sets up the stage and the economy plays the role". The leaders of China and ASEAN jointly promote it, build a bridge of friendly cooperation in many fields, form a unique "Nanning channel" for China ASEAN cooperation, become a regional public goods and international cooperation platform serving China ASEAN, even RCEP and the "the Belt and Road", and successfully achieve the goal of "10+1>11".

In the first 19 editions of the East China Expo, a total of 182 Chinese and foreign leaders, more than 3800 ministerial level VIPs, and international organization leaders attended, with over 1.1 million businessmen attending. More than 200 economic and trade activities were held, attracting more than 40000 representatives from Chinese and foreign enterprises to attend.

Wei Chaohui, Secretary General of the Secretariat of the China ASEAN Expo, introduced that the East China Expo adheres to the purpose of promoting the construction of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area, focuses on enhancing the function of economic and trade promotion, promotes the upgrade of the 1.0 version of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area to the 2.0 version, and moves towards the 3.0 version.

20 years ago, when it comes to ASEAN country specialty products such as Vietnamese durian, Thai mangosteen, and Indonesian coffee, many people knew very little. 20 years later, more and more ASEAN products will enter China through the East China Expo, and some may even become "internet celebrities" selling well in various regions.

"The China ASEAN Expo has developed into an important platform for promoting trade and investment in ASEAN, and has become a model of good cooperation between China and ASEAN member countries." Indonesian President Joko Widodo highly praised the East China Expo in his video speeches at the opening ceremony of the 17th China ASEAN Expo and the China ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

Zhai Kun, professor of the School of International Relations of Peking University, said that thanks to the East China International Fair, the cooperation between the two sides has extended from trade in goods, investment and services to international production capacity cooperation, cross-border park construction and other fields, and has led to exchanges in artificial intelligence, the Internet, ports, education and other fields. The cooperation between the two sides is moving towards a wide range, deep level and high level.

Promote China ASEAN relations to become a successful model of Asia Pacific regional cooperation

In 1991, China was invited to attend the 24th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Kuala Lumpur, officially initiating the dialogue process between China and ASEAN. In 2003, China and ASEAN signed the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity, making China the first country to establish a strategic partnership with ASEAN. The formal establishment of bilateral strategic partnership has opened a new chapter in China ASEAN relations, greatly promoting and promoting the comprehensive development of bilateral relations. The China ASEAN Expo has emerged.

Over the past 20 years, China ASEAN cooperation has been comprehensively presented at the East China Expo, with high-level political and business docking, multi-level communication activities, and wide-ranging high-level forums. Bilateral cooperation has not only brought tangible benefits to the region, but also promoted global economic and trade development.

China has always actively supported the construction of the ASEAN community and its central position in regional cooperation. ASEAN countries also regard China as a trustworthy partner. Under the promotion of the China ASEAN Expo, bilateral relations have developed rapidly in various fields, political mutual trust has been continuously strengthened, and practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results. China ASEAN cooperation has become an important pillar in maintaining regional peace and stability and promoting development and prosperity.

Australia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan... Since the 11th East China Expo, the China ASEAN Expo has set up special partners, inviting members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and countries co building the "the Belt and Road" outside China and ASEAN as special partners, promoting the organic connection between the "Belt" and the "Road", expanding from serving "10+1" cooperation to serving RCEP cooperation and co building the "the Belt and Road", promoting more exchanges between China and ASEAN and countries outside the region, and creating more business opportunities.

Trade and investment cooperation are important witnesses to the progress of bilateral relations. Data shows that the bilateral trade volume between China and ASEAN has increased from over 100 billion US dollars in 2004 to 975.34 billion US dollars in 2022. China has maintained ASEAN's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, and ASEAN has become China's largest trading partner for 3 consecutive years. The cumulative investment between China and ASEAN has increased from 30 billion US dollars in 2002 to over 340 billion US dollars in October 2022, an increase of more than 11 times.

In 2021, at the commemorative summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN, China and ASEAN officially announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and ASEAN. This is a new milestone in the history of bilateral relations, which will inject new impetus into regional and world peace, stability, and prosperous development.

In 2022, the RCEP led by ASEAN will take full effect and be implemented, giving birth to the world's largest free trade zone. "The China ASEAN Expo vigorously promotes the construction of free trade zones such as CAFTA and RCEP. The Expo has opened up broader space for regional economic and trade cooperation, accelerated the process of regional economic integration, and injected strong impetus into regional prosperity and stability.".

The CAEXPO has moved from promoting the comprehensive completion of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area to a new upgrade, and from promoting the "the Belt and Road" initiative to the implementation of RCEP. The establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and ASEAN is indispensable to the East China Expo.

"The China ASEAN Expo and the China ASEAN Business and Investment Summit have played an important role in promoting the strategic partnership between ASEAN and China," said Nguyen Van Thieu, then Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, at the opening ceremony of the 13th China ASEAN Expo and the China ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

Promoting China ASEAN cooperation as a vivid example of building a community with a shared future for mankind

For many years, China has always regarded ASEAN as the priority direction of neighboring diplomacy and a key area for high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road", supported the construction of the ASEAN community, supported ASEAN's central position in East Asia cooperation, and supported ASEAN to play a greater role in building an open and inclusive regional framework.

Under the promotion of the China ASEAN Expo, China and ASEAN have led East Asian economic integration, promoted common development and prosperity, and enabled over 2 billion people to live better lives.

With the completion and opening of new highways and railways, as well as the upgrading and renovation of ports, the increasing logistics gathering and radiation power of Indonesia's Jakarta Bandung High Speed Railway, Malaysia's Kuantan Port, and Brunei Mora Port, the countries and regions along the line have pressed the fast forward button of development.

The annual throughput of the Beibu Gulf International Port, an international gateway port of the land sea new channel, has exceeded 7 million TEUs. ASEAN products such as durian and frozen shrimp are increasingly entering millions of households in China; As an important project linking the "the Belt and Road" initiative with Laos' strategy of "turning a land locked country into a land linked country", the total number of passengers transported by the China Laos railway has exceeded 20 million so far; The first national level industrial park established by China in Malaysia, the Malaysia China Kuantan Industrial Park, has an agreed investment of over 46 billion yuan and a cumulative industrial output value of over 60 billion yuan

During the 16th China ASEAN Expo, Indonesian President's envoy and Minister of Ocean Affairs, Luhute, delivered a speech saying that the Expo has become an important platform for promoting investment and trade in Asia, and a model of good cooperation between ASEAN and Chinese countries. For ASEAN member countries, the "the Belt and Road" initiative will help to narrow the infrastructure gap and promote industrial development. By developing infrastructure and strengthening trade, it will further promote the ASEAN integration process.

China and ASEAN are connected by mountains and rivers, with similar cultures, close cultural ties, and a long history of friendly exchanges between the two peoples. They are good neighbors who stand by and help each other, good friends who show mutual respect, and good partners who work together for development. Relying on the important cooperation platform of the East China Expo, the exchange and cooperation between China and ASEAN in fields such as culture, education, people's livelihood, and health continue to deepen and solidify. The China ASEAN Cultural Forum and the China ASEAN Expo Cultural Exhibition have been held successively, playing a positive role in promoting regional cultural exchanges. China has trained more than 1300 technical and technological management backbone members from ASEAN countries, and the number of international students sent by both sides has exceeded 200000. Chinese universities have opened official language majors in 10 ASEAN countries, and ASEAN countries have built 42 Confucius Institutes and 39 Confucius Institutes. Currently, all 10 ASEAN countries have become destinations for Chinese citizens to travel abroad, and both sides are major tourist sources for each other.

In the face of the sudden COVID-19, the two sides stood guard and helped each other to overcome the difficulties. They reached many important consensus on sharing anti epidemic experience, promoting the supply of anti epidemic materials, cooperating in the research and development of vaccines, and jointly maintaining the stability of the regional industrial chain and supply chain. At a critical moment in China's fight against the epidemic, ASEAN countries have timely provided valuable support and selfless assistance to China. After the domestic epidemic stabilized, China dispatched medical expert teams to ASEAN countries to provide materials and technical assistance, share anti epidemic experiences, and timely open up "fast channels" and "green channels" for personnel and material exchanges between both sides.

The China ASEAN Health Cooperation Forum, held every two years under the framework of the East China Expo, has become an important mechanism for health cooperation between China and ASEAN, promoting the implementation of mechanisms such as the China ASEAN Hospital Cooperation Alliance and the China ASEAN Cross border Medical Cooperation Platform.