China-ASEAN trade reached US$452.2 billion, last year. Under an upgraded agreement of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) concluded in November 2015, ASEAN and China expect to raise bilateral trade to US$1,000 billion by 2020.
Vice Premier of the State Council of China Zhang Gaoli officially kicked off the 14th China-ASEAN expo (CAExpo) and the 14th China and ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABis) on Tuesday, attended by several leaders of ASEAN countries in Guangxi’s provincial capital of Nanning, China.
In his opening speech, Zhang stressed his country’s commitment to enhancing cooperation with ASEAN in various sectors—trade, infrastructure and finance as well as people to people connectivity.
He said this year CHAExpo’s theme was enhancing cooperation in tourism, which would not only help economic development, but enhance connectivity among the people of China and ASEAN member countries.
“Together, we can bring our people closer,” said Zhang, adding that more than 700 million Chinese people go abroad for leisure annually.
Others speakers at the CAExpo and CABis opening ceremony were Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Vietnamese Executive Vice Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh, Laos Deputy Prime Minister Sonxey and Kazakhstan Deputy Prime Minister Askar Mamin.
The ASEAN member countries consist of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Brunei.
China-ASEAN trade reached US$452.2 billion, last year. Under an upgraded agreement of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) concluded in November 2015, ASEAN and China expect to raise bilateral trade to US$1,000 billion by 2020.
The CAExpo was held at the 124,000 square meter Nanning International Convention & Exhibition Center (NICEC). (bbn, Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post)
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