17th China-ASEAN Expo concludes with over $40 billion projects reached
CGTN
04:50

The 17th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO), an annual fixture in the southern Chinese city of Nanning, concluded on Monday with deals signed as part of 86 investment projects worth more than $40 billion. This year's edition focused on digital economy, e-commerce and 5G – some of the hottest buzzwords nowadays, especially as China places technology front and center in its economic development.

In his address via video link at the opening ceremony on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on China and its ASEAN partners to seize the opportunities presented by the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation.

"We could create more highlights of cooperation in areas such as smart city, 5G, artificial intelligence, e-commerce, big data, blockchain and telemedicine, and strengthen the protection of data security and policy communication and coordination, as these efforts will help nurture new drivers for the social and economic development of our two sides," President Xi said.

Technology holds the key to revolutionizing trade between China and its regional neighbors, experts say.

"Traditional exports of agricultural products depend on establishing an intermediate network, which now is to some extent replaced by a digital platform," John Gong, professor at the University of International Business and Economics told CGTN, noting that the development of the digital economy will open new trade channels and provide people in rural areas with access to a wider network of markets, consumers and business partners.

Boosting trade prospects between China and ASEAN countries is the newly-signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which covers nearly a third of the global population and about 30 percent of the global GDP.

Meanwhile, President Xi recently proposed a new economic "dual circulation" strategy, which takes the domestic market as the mainstay and allows domestic and foreign markets to boost each other. Although focused on domestic demand to offset the vulnerabilities of over-dependence on other economies, the strategy accounts for the importance of the international market to the world's second-largest economy, Gong explained.

"China's export sector at present holds about 17-18 percent of its GDP, even though the percentage keeps declining, it is still a large component of the economy, which is very important for China's trading partners," the expert said. He believed that China's fast recovery from the coronavirus pandemic will be a motivation to help the rest of Asia "go towards recovery and further economic development."

According to data released by the expo's secretariat at the closing ceremony, the value of deals inked during the four-day event presents an annual increase of 43.6 percent from last year. Over 85 percent of the agreed investment, estimated at 263.87 billion yuan (around $40.1 billion), is in such fields as health, big data, logistics, and new manufacturing.

With an exhibition area of 104,000 square meters, this year's expo features 5,400 booths for 1,668 enterprises, including Fortune 500 and industry-leading companies. In addition, 1,956 enterprises from home and abroad participated virtually in the event.

More than 150 trade and investment promotion activities were held online and offline during the expo.

The 18th China-ASEAN Expo is tentatively scheduled for September 10 to 13, 2021, with Laos continuing as the Country of Honor and Pakistan the Special Partner Country.