The 21st China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) concluded in Nanning City of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Saturday.
The five-day event served as a platform for exhibitors to seek opportunities and markets, and for visitors to get access to products from different countries.
On the open days of the expo, courier service points at the venue were filled with packages of purchased goods, ready to be shipped.
Tetiana Skakodub, a visitor from Russia showed the goods from ASEAN countries she discovered and bought.
"Vietnam coffee, very good, I like this. It's durian cake. It's very tasty," she said.
As the country of honor, Malaysia reached agreements with China totaling nearly 43 billion yuan (around 6.13 billion U.S. dollars) in the trade of commodities during the expo.
Durian, as a symbol of the two countries' strong ties, highlighted the Malaysian pavilion.
"I think in general, actually it's been proven, when governments to governments have very good relations, more and more opportunities can actually be spilled over to the people in the grounds. Particularly, for example, this year, due to good relations that Malaysia and China have, on the 50 years of our celebration, we were able to get our fresh durian protocol ratified," said Mohamad Haris Abdul Latiff, trade consul of the Consulate General of Malaysia in Guangzhou, and also trade commissioner of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation.
The Expo provides opportunities for both returning businesses and newcomers across all industries and scales.
"NETA cars are marketed as cost-effective, aligning well with the ASEAN target customers. We also participated in the expo last year. Now representatives from Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea have come to inquire about cooperation with us," said Michael Gao, overseas sales director of automaker NETA, China.
"This is our first time here. It's a very good exposure for us, not just for our company but also for our country as well. Because a lot of times people think Brunei is a small country. But we actually have a lot of potentials and a lot of things we can offer, from like seafood to like agriculture products," said Hazel Lim, business development and marketing manager of Superfish Growers company from Brunei.
The expo witnessed the signing of 109 projects, of which 93 involved investments of over 500 million yuan (around 71.31 million U.S. dollars). Manufacturing projects accounted for 69 percent of the deals.
It also featured an unprecedented digital technology exhibition area, with a third of exhibits making a debut in China. Meanwhile, it also wowed visitors with over 90 new environment-friendly products and technologies.
Since its inception in 2004, CAEXPO has actively built an economic and trade platform for cooperation between China and ASEAN. The 22nd CAEXPO is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 17 to 21, 2025, with Myanmar as the country of honor.
21st China-ASEAN Expo concludes in Nanning
21st China-ASEAN Expo concludes in Nanning
