Xinhua News Agency, Nanning, September 19th Faster, more stable, and more realistic ¨C feel the pace of building the China-ASEAN Fate Community from the East Expo

Newspaper reporter Tanja Feng, Juliet

Up to 160,000 square meters of exhibition area, 7 ASEAN countries in the main meeting venue or semi-package venue, a total of 3,200 companies from 60 countries participated in the exhibition ... The 22nd China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit held in Guangzhou Nanjing from September 17 to 21 attracted a large number of people from the field and abroad.

This is the opening ceremony of the 22nd China-ASEAN Expo (photo taken on September 17th). Xinhua News Agency

For more than 20 years, the East Expo has been like a link and bridge, closely linking China and ASEAN countries. Through the window of this East Expo, we can see that China and ASEAN countries are building a closer China-ASEAN community of destiny at a faster, more stable and more practical pace.

"An important symbol of mutual trust, cooperation and joint progress"

A total of more than 200 Chinese and foreign leaders, 4,000 ministerial dignitaries and heads of international organizations have attended all previous East Expo Expositions. Through opening speeches, leaders' meetings, ministerial consultations and other forms, all parties have been continuously promoted to build consensus on cooperation. This year's East Expo continues the high standard of political diplomacy:

--At the opening ceremony, leaders and senior officials of Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam and other countries, as well as the Secretary-General of ASEAN, attended and delivered speeches, highly affirming the past contributions of the East Expo and actively looking forward to the development prospects of the East Expo:

¡°Over the years, the Expo has become an important platform for promoting ASEAN-China trade and investment, deepening mutual friendship and peace and cooperation¡± ¡°I believe this Expo will further deepen the lasting friendship, trust and economic partnership between ASEAN and China¡± ¡°(The Expo) can bridge between trade and technology, markets and innovation, today¡¯s opportunities and the possibilities of tomorrow¡± ...

--During the China-ASEAN Expo, through high-level exchanges such as China-ASEAN Construction Ministers Roundtable, Industry Ministers Roundtable, Artificial Intelligence Ministers Roundtable, China-ASEAN Expo Senior Officials Meeting, and RCEP High-end Dialogue on Economic and Trade Cooperation, all parties reached a number of outcome documents on housing and urban-rural construction, regional industry, industrial and supply chain stability and other fields, witnessing the continuous strengthening of strategic mutual trust between China and ASEAN.

Interaction between exhibitors and consumers at the East Expo exhibition site (September 19).

Here, China and ASEAN countries linked development strategies and gathered more development consensus.

¡°Today, the East Expo has become an important symbol of mutual trust, cooperation and cooperation between ASEAN and China.¡± ASEAN Secretary-General Gao Kim Hong said that over the past 20 years, the East Expo has grown and more and more, and there are many leaders of ASEAN countries and important enterprises participating every year, which reflects the ASEAN and China¡¯s ¡°high importance to the East Expo.¡±

¡°In my view, the East Expo is exactly the typical practice of ASEAN and China building a community of destiny together,¡± said Willen, director of Thailand¡¯s Belt and Road Research Center, ¡°ASEAN and China are not only important trade partners of each other, but also a community of interests and responsibility, and believe that the two sides will contribute important forces to regional peace and development in the future.¡±

"Deepening economic integration within the region and contributing to the development of free trade zones"

As the surging crowds entered the main venue, in addition to the previous best-selling specialties of ASEAN countries such as Thai dried fruits, Vietnamese coffee, and Lao ancient tree tea, many ASEAN companies brought artificial intelligence (AI) large model applications, intelligent medical high-tech products such as platforms and digital payment tools were unveiled; In the Chinese exhibition area, technological products such as smart glasses with real-time translation function, flexible robot dogs, and large-load drones also attract people's attention.

The audience watched the Yushu robot performing (photo taken on September 18th). Xinhua News Agency

From the development of indigenous products to the exhibition of artificial intelligence, from the traditional field to the digital field, it fully demonstrates the theme of this East Expo: "Digital intelligence empowers development, innovation leads the future - building a community of destiny with the new opportunity of China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone 3.0".

"There are many technology companies in Indonesia participating in the exhibition this year." Falke Lange, CEO of an artificial intelligence and robotics company in Indonesia who participated in the East Expo for the first time, told reporters. "This reflects the upgrading of economic and trade relations between Indonesia and China and the increase of cooperation between the two countries in the fields of industry and science and technology, which is beneficial to each other."

Here, China and ASEAN countries accurately align market needs, promote economic and trade integration, and share a mutually beneficial and prosperous picture.

"The East Expo has greatly increased the trade volume between ASEAN and China, helped each other's products enter each other's consumer markets smoothly, and played a role in deepening regional economic integration and helping the development of the free trade area." Nai Ruiwu, a member of the Senior Advisory Committee of the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies, said, "The East Expo emphasizes multilateral cooperation and aims to serve the needs of people's livelihood in all countries, which also proves that China has been practically implementing global governance initiatives."

This is the special invitation of the partner country Sri Lanka Promotion Conference (September 18).

This year, Sri Lanka as an invited partner country to participate in the East Expo, in addition to showcasing specialty products such as tea, spices, rubber, and other products, also hopes to find opportunities for cooperation in the attraction of tourism investment and promote the development of ports. Sri Lanka's "Belt and Road" organization founder director Asirou Lanaraja said: "In the context of global uncertainty and the world trade pattern is changing, the East Expo with its characteristics of strengthening regional economic interdependence and realistic rich cooperation results, supports the vision of building a regional community of destiny, and also becomes a model for broader global cooperation and promoting the building of a community of human destiny."

"See the seeds of lasting harmony for future development"

On the evening of the 17th, as an important accompanying event of the East Expo, the China-ASEAN Youth Leader Roundtable Dialogue will be held in Nanning, where youth representatives from all countries exchanged innovation cases and shared their respective thoughts on deepening ASEAN-China cooperation.

¡°By participating in this project, I learned about many successful cases of ASEAN and China in manufacturing cooperation, technology introduction, cultural exchanges, and so on,¡± Young Leader Growth Programme Representative, Myanmar Light Olive Consultancy Group Chief Executive Officer Evola said to reporters, ¡°We can also understand different countries¡¯ development thinking and focus development directions, and I believe this will be of great help to ASEAN youth countries including Myanmar.¡±

Characteristic granite products attract consumer experiences and purchases (September 19).

In addition, China-ASEAN non-heritage fashion week, star power youth singer competition, cultural exchanges, scenic music performances "Southeast Asia" and other colourful humanitarian exchanges were held in turn.

Here, there is not only a feast of audio-visual and ideas, but also a vivid practice of strengthening emotional connection between China and ASEAN countries and deepening mutual learning among civilizations.

Sithisey Saifong, deputy director of the University of Laos¡¯s Naghi Bay, said that during these events, he felt the ¡°more diverse and warm atmosphere¡± of the Eastern Expo, ¡°which will encourage ASEAN and Chinese youth to gain a deeper understanding of each other¡¯s national characteristics and cultures, thereby further promoting tourism, trade and cultural exchanges.¡±

¡°By holding various forms of humanitarian exchanges, the East Expo embodies the deep friendship between ASEAN countries and China as a sincere exchange and seeds the seeds of lasting harmony for the future development of both sides.¡± ¨C said Peelingha, expert at the Trade Promotion Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, ¡°The East Expo reflects the thriving development of humanitarian exchanges between ASEAN countries and China, which laid a solid foundation for cultural interplay and mutual understanding within the region.¡±