Nanning, November 28 “In a period of increasing uncertainty, the importance of holding the China-ASEAN Expo is even more prominent.” Lin Yuhui, Secretary-General of ASEAN, said in a video speech on the 27th that the East China Expo is an important platform for ASEAN and China to strengthen cooperation. On this basis, significant progress has been made in economic relations between the two sides.
On the same day, the 17th China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit opened in Nanning, with the theme of “Building the u2018 Belt and Road u2019 together to revitalize the digital economy” and was carried out in the form of online and offline. Although the COVID-19 epidemic is still raging around the world, China’s enthusiasm with ASEAN countries to promote exchanges and cooperation through exhibitions has not decreased.
Indonesia has set up a commodity pavilion and a national pavilion. The commodity pavilion displays famous products including furniture, fashion, handicrafts, food, etc., while the national pavilion displays Indonesia’s trade, tourism and investment potential through cultural performances.
Indonesian President Joko expressed his appreciation and gratitude to China for persisting in holding exhibitions under the epidemic. In his video speech, he pointed out that the East China Expo has developed into an important platform for ASEAN and China to promote trade and investment, and has become a model of good cooperation between the two sides. He believes that this East China Expo will promote the regional economic recovery after the epidemic and deepen the cooperation between ASEAN and China in key areas such as trade, tourism and investment.
Lao Prime Minister Tong Lun said that in the past 17 years, the East China Expo has not only demonstrated the results of growing trade and investment cooperation between ASEAN and China, but also deepened friendly relations between the two sides, greatly promoted bilateral trade and investment facilitation, and expanded cultural exchanges and tourism cooperation.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Chun Phuc said that Vietnam has the largest number of exhibitors and booths in ASEAN in previous years. Vietnam will carry out online exhibitions to create business opportunities for enterprise exchanges and cooperation.
“This year’s East Expo has special significance.” Thai Prime Minister Prayut said that governments and the public sector work together to promote the business community to adapt to the new normal, actively expand business opportunities for private enterprises, promote the development of trade, investment, services and tourism, expand the application of advanced technology, and overcome difficulties and create a better future together.
The epidemic has brought serious challenges to countries and made people more aware of the importance of maintaining multilateralism and strengthening international cooperation.
This year is the year of China-ASEAN Digital Economic Cooperation. The digital economy is an important part of sustainable development. Countries rely more and more on digital technology for economic and trade investment and people’s lives, especially in the face of the challenges of the epidemic. ASEAN leaders said that this year’s East China Expo is focusing on enhancing digital economic cooperation.
Prayut said that ASEAN and China need to take this opportunity to further strengthen and enrich bilateral cooperation, including strengthening digital economic cooperation, accelerating the construction of digital infrastructure and benefiting more small and medium-sized enterprises and ordinary people.
Myanmar President Wen Min said that ASEAN member states and China have established links through digitalization. However, due to the differences in the level of digital economy development, the two sides need to strengthen cooperation in digital infrastructure. They believe that narrowing the development gap in this field will improve the way everyone uses the Internet, thus promoting the development of the digital economy. .
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen pointed out that under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, ASEAN and China’s further promotion of digital technology cooperation will be an important direction for future development. The Cambodian government has promoted the application of digital technology in production, industry, services and digital government construction.
Laos is the theme country of this year’s East China Expo, and it is preparing to develop a digital economy to adapt to the new situation. Tonglun said that today’s digital economy has quietly played a role in accelerating the socio-economic development of the region and the world. Leaders of China and ASEAN reaffirmed the importance of strengthening digital economic cooperation. In the implementation of the action plan, the digital divide and the differences in the level of digital economic development among ASEAN countries must be fully taken into account.
Lin Yuhui said that he believed that China’s support would inject new vitality into the digital transformation of ASEAN, and ASEAN countries need China’s expertise in financial technology, digital payment systems and other fields to support the development of bilateral trade and investment.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area. Over the years, bilateral relations have been deepening and developing, and pragmatic cooperation has achieved a series of important results. Now China and ASEAN have become the largest trading partners of each other. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) was officially signed on the 15th of this month, which gave birth to the world’s largest free trade area. In the future, China and ASEAN will work together under the framework of RCEP to build an open, inclusive and rules-based trading environment.
