The 11th China-ASEAN EXPO (CAEXPO) to be held from September 16 to 19 this year in Nanning, China, will set up five pavilions on commodity trade, trade in services, investment cooperation, advanced technologies and city of charm. It will vigorously promote China-ASEAN cooperation in connectivity, maritime affairs, finance, security, people-to-people exchanges, science and technology, and environmental protection so as to further strengthen bilaterial cooperation in trade in services.

Diversified Pavilion of Trade in Services

The Pavilion of Trade in Services will arrange not only exhibitions but also related programs to showcase the financial services, tourism services and cultural cooperation of the two sides.

This pavilion will continue to arrange the Financial Services Exhibition to showcase financial policies, business scopes, service concepts and other information of the Chinese and ASEAN financial institutions and their services in credit loan, international settlement, corporate finance, asset management, securities issuing and investment/fundraising.

The exhibition will, in particular, highlight the preferential policies and measures of the financial institutions tailored for enterprises that are interested in outward investment, so as to facilitate the bilateral financial cooperation. To date, renowned and leading Chinese banks have agreed to join the exhibition as exhibitors, including Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China Postal Savings Bank, rural credit cooperatives, Bank of Beijing and Bank of Liuzhou.

This pavilion will combine with the Pavilion of Cities of Charm to showcase tourism services. Targeting the theme of the 11th CAEXPO, “Building the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century,” the showcase of the cities of charms will bring more opportunities for bilateral tourism exchanges and cooperation. Cities of charm of the 10 ASEAN countries of the 11th CAEXPO have now all been confirmed, namely the Ningxia Hui autonomous region of China, Bandar Seri Begawan of Brunei Darussalam, Sihanoukville Province of Cambodia, South Sumatra Province of Indonesia, Borkeo Province of Laos, Langkawi of Malaysia, Yangon of Myanmar, Davao City of the Philippines, Singapore, Nakhon Si Thammarat of Thailand and Binh Thuan Province of Vietnam, which all boast rich tourism resources. Participants will be able to experience distinctive tourism flavors of China and the ASEAN countries in Nanning.

Cultural cooperation will be highlighted, as this year marks the China-ASEAN Cultural Exchange Year. Diversified relevant programs like the China-ASEAN Cultural Forum will be arranged to upgrade, deepen and expand the bilateral cooperation in this regard.

High-end forums/conferences to deepen and expand bilateral cooperation in various fields

The 11th CAEXPO will continue to arrange a series of high-end forums/conferences to boost China-ASEAN exchanges and cooperation in various fields. These activities, with elaborate plans including the choosing of themes and topics, are more professional and authoritative. What’s more, they can better meet the rising needs of China-ASEAN cooperation. The Q&A sessions that are added to the forums/conferences will beyond a doubt effectively enhance interactions between the speakers and audience and enrich the outcomes of the activities.

The China-ASEAN E-Commerce Forum 2014 will be arranged with "Cross-Border E-Commerce" as the theme. With the participation of relevant Chinese and ASEAN enterprises and organizations, the forum will boost the development of e-commerce in the China-ASEAN FTA. It is reported that the world famous Alibaba Group will participate in this forum.

The sixth China-ASEAN Summit Forum on Financial Cooperation & Development will be held to facilitate bilateral financial cooperation. It will feature “Innovation in Cross-border RMB Businesses” as its theme, which remains the most important issue that needs urgent resolution in financial reform in the border areas. Leaders, experts and scholars from People’s Bank of China, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), Bank of China (BOC), Chinese and ASEAN regulation departments, and other financial institutions will address the forum and have dialogues with each other, which will undoubtedly facilitate cooperation between Chinese and ASEAN enterprises and financial institutions.

The second China-ASEAN Forum on Technology Transfer and Sci-Tech Innovations will collectively showcase the excellent achievements of China and the ASEAN in this regard to promote the establishment of the Technology Transfer Network and facilitate the matching of technologies and relevant bilateral cooperation. Five cooperation fields will be highlighted at the conference, including modern agriculture, new energy and renewable energy, bio-pharmaceuticals, e-information, and newly-introduced energy conservation and environmental protection. By then, representatives from science and technology departments, industrial associations, enterprises and technology transfer organizations will attend the conference.

The ninth China-ASEAN Cultural Forum, which is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of China and the People’s Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, will invite Chinese and ASEAN celebrities, experts, scholars and other professionals from the industry to discuss how to deepen bilateral exchanges and cooperation. Meanwhile, the Directory of the China-ASEAN International Art Festival and The Ninth China-ASEAN Cultural Forum Album will be compiled and published to provide theoretical support for China and ASEAN countries to organize cultural and art festivals between the two sides.

Other sideline programs will be arranged as usual to spread the latest official industrial information. Such programs include the seventh China-ASEAN Think Tank Strategic Dialogue Forum, the fourth China-ASEAN Logistic Cooperation Forum, networking programs between banks and Guangxi’s “Go Global” enterprises, investment and fundraising seminars, the second Pan Beibu Gulf Equity Investment Forum, and the China-Singapore-Thailand Cultural Exchange Meeting. Since Singapore, the Country of Honor of the 11th CAEXPO, is quite advanced in trade in services, its rich experience in financial cooperation, education, tourism and insurance will be spotlighted at the pavilion. The Promotion Conference on Singapore’s Financial Businesses and Bank-Enterprise Networking Conference will be arranged on the sidelines. All these programs will push forward the sustainable, sound and rapid development of trade in services between China and the ASEAN.

A promising future for China-ASEAN cooperation in trade in services

With the full establishment and continuous development of the China-ASEAN FTA, China and the ASEAN are experiencing increasingly deepened bilateral cooperation in trade in services, which brings a soaring bilateral trade volume in this regard. This phenomenon is also attributed to the solid foundation of bilateral cooperation and the strong complementarities in this regard.

The CAEXPO has made remarkable achievement in facilitating trade in services of the two sides since the Pavilion of Trade in Services has been launched at its seventh session. With diversified exhibitions and programs, this pavilion has effectively promoted bilateral exchanges and cooperation in trade in services. This year marks the first year of the “Diamond Decade” of China-ASEAN cooperation and the China-ASEAN Cultural Exchange Year. It also kicks off the building of the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century. In this context, this pavilion, as an important part of the 11th CAEXPO, will play a more vital role in promoting bilateral cooperation in trade in services.