News briefing for the 12th CAEXPO and the 12th CABIS was held on Sept 17th, where Mr. Hu Suojin, Deputy Direct General of the General Office of MOFCOM gave a brief introduction on the two events.

The news briefing was moderated by Mr. Cui Zuojun, Deputy Director-General the Department of Information and Publicity of the CAEXPO & CABIS Guangxi Command Center. Mrs. Yang Yanyan, Vice Secretary-General of the CAEXPO Secretariat attended the conference and talked on services provided for press and media during the fair periods.

Sources told that the 12th CAEXPO is a major event held in the first year for China and ASEAN to implement the Belt and Road initiative. It features Building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Creating a New Blueprint for Maritime Cooperation as the theme, aiming at promoting efforts to build the Belt and the Road through consultation to meet the interests of all, making new contribution to the China-ASEAN cooperation and construction of the Belt and the Road. An array of new highlights will come up at the 12th CAEXPO.

Remaining an Event with High-profiled Participants

H.E. Mr. Zhang Gaoli, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council of China, H.E. General Tanasak Patimapragorn, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, the Country of Honor for the 12th CAEXPO, H.E. Mr. Sai Mauk Kham, Vice President of Myanmar, H.E. Mr. Somsava LENGSAVAD, Deputy Prime Minister of Lao PDR, H.E. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Executive Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, H.E. Mr. Sun Chanthol, Senior Minister and Minister of Commerce of Cambodia and other Chinese and ASEAN heads of state and government will attend the 12th CAEXPO.

The event will have attendance of ministers of the ministries of foreign affairs, commerce or trade and industry and environmental protection of China and ASEAN countries, H.E. Mr. Lim Hong Hin, Deputy Secretary-General of the ASEAN, H.E. Mr. Yi Xiaozhun, Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization, envoys of diplomatic corps , presidents or chairpersons of chambers of commerce and trade associations, renowned entrepreneurs and representatives of other professions from China, the ASEAN member states and surrounding countries.

Up till now, 205 media of 22 countries and regions and 1226 reporters and journalists will come cover the 12th CAEXPO and CABIS. Among them, 98 reporters and journalist come from 65 media of the ASEAN countries.

Active Participation of Leading and Brand Enterprises

Exhibitor applicants have applied for 5563 booths in total, 21 percent more than the planned ones. A total of 2207 enterprises have been accepted and proved qualified, and 4600 booths will be actually arranged. Among them, 1296 booths are for the 10 ASEAN countries and non-CAFTA countries, up by 2.9 percent compared with last year. Six ASEAN countries including Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam will continue to charter exhibition halls for their commodity pavilions respectively.

A batch of Fortune 500 Enterprises like Bank of China, leading companies, brand companies and financial institutions will be showcased at the CAEXPO. Many ASEAN brands and representative companies will participate in relevant exhibitions, such as Hasmit Shield Manufacturing Sdn Bhd of Brunei, Lao Hang Heng Wine Co., Ltd. of Cambodia, Association of Exporters and Producers of Indonesian Handicraft, Dao Hueng Group of Lao PDR, Kuantan Port Consortium Sdn Bhd of Malaysia, Myanmar Fisheries Federation, Mekka Canned Sardines Industry Co., Ltd., Singapore Development Bank (SDB), Chia Tai Food of Thailand, Biti's of Vietnam, etc. Featured exhibits of ASEAN will fall into categories of foodstuffs and beverage, consumer goods and service products. As for the Chinese exhibits, limelight will be put on those catering to the ASEAN markets.

Totally 81 trade and investment promotion programs will be arranged at the 12th CAEXPO. Some of them are arranged by country breakdown, for example, sourcing meeting for Vietnam, promotion conference on technological cooperation of Thailand and promotion conference on Chinese SMEs in Cambodia, etc. Some other are by industrial breakdown, including procurement meeting for food processing and packaging machinery, promotion conference on Chinese and ASEAN fruits of high quality and promotion conference on mobilizing Chinese electric power enterprises to Go Global. Bank of China will organize the 12th CAEXPO SMEs Cross-border Trade & Investment Cooperation Symposium, which is the first time for a large state-owned enterprise of China to host such a large-scale investment and fund-raising matching event for global SMEs at the CAEXPO.

More Trade Visitors and Buying Missions

More individual trade visitors and buying missions will participate in the CAEXPO. Eighty-five groups of investors and buying missions have confirmed their visits. They are from China, ASEAN countries, RCEP member countries including ROK, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand, North American countries and European countries and other countries outside the China-ASEAN region.

Significant increase is also seen in the number of Chinese trade visitors and buying missions. Department of commerce of provinces and cities of China will organize their buying missions to the CAEXPO. Institutions and trade associations like Rubber Valley in Qingdao, Shandong province of China and China-ASEAN Technological Transfer Center will vigorously mobilize their member enterprises and business clients to the CAEXPO to buy made-in-ASEAN products.

Prominence on International Capacity Cooperation

Following progress made in upgrading the China-ASEAN FTA, the 12th CAEXPO will give prominence on international capacity cooperation and host the first-ever China-ASEAN International Capacity Cooperation Series Activities, which will include the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road & Promoting International Capacity Cooperation Forum, the International Economic and Capacity Cooperation Exhibition and business networking program for investors and owners of international capacity cooperation projects.

The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road & Promoting International Capacity Cooperation Forum invites government officials of China and ASEAN countries, representatives of international institutions, renowned experts and scholars and business elites to hold in-depth discussion on relevant cooperation. The International Economic and Capacity Cooperation Exhibition showcases such major sectors for capacity cooperation like railway, electric power equipment, engineering machinery, transportation vehicles, building materials and telecommunications equipment, etc. Focus of attention will be put on promoting China's railway equipment and technologies to other ASEAN. China Railway, CRRC Corporation Ltd. and other relevant enterprises will join in the exhibition. The business networking for investors and project owners invites enterprises in relevant major sectors of China and more than 20 industrial parks of the ASEAN countries, aiming to forge new channels for the bilateral international capacity cooperation.

Other sideline events include the CAEXPO Promotion Conference on ASEAN Industrial Parks, the China-ASEAN Infrastructure Cooperation Forum, the China-ASEAN Forum on Electric Power Cooperation & Development, business networking with Chinese economic and commercial counselors in ASEAN countries, investment and fund-raising seminars and the SMEs Cross-border Investment and Trade Cooperation Symposium, all of which will highlight international capacity cooperation.

Diverse Activities during the Fair Period

The Country of Honor and the Special Guest Country for the 12th CAEXPO and the World Trade Organization will host special events during the fair period, which will expand and enrich the CAEXPO's platform. This year celebrates the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand. Being the Country of Honor, Thailand will organize a series of relevant activities, including a keynote speech made by its visiting leader, the inaugural ceremony of the national pavilion presented by Thai and Chinese heads of state and government, a roundtable talks between the visiting leader of Thailand and Chinese CEOs and a national promotion conference, etc.

The Republic of Korea (ROK), the Special Guest Country for this year’s CAEXPO, sets up a Korean pavilion and organizes a series of activities aiming to promote economic and trade cooperation. H.E. Mr. Moon Dae Do, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Energy of Korea, personally visits the CAEXPO by heading a delegation that comprises government officials and businesses.

This year, the CAEXPO works with the World Trade Organizing (WTO) to host the Symposium on Trade Facilitation and Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Establishment of WTO, well reflective of roles played by the CAEXPO in driving China and ASEAN to deepen the bilateral cooperation and to engage in trade facilitation process in Asia and the world at large.

More practical outcomes will be produced by the CAEXPO cities of charm and business matching activities. Being the City of Charm of China for the 12th CAEXPO, Hong Kong will highlight its financial sector, modern services, creative industry and culture, logistics and tourism, and will organize promotion conference on economic and trade cooperation and networking program for reporters and journalists, to showcase the enormous business opportunities it will bring for building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

27 High-end Forums to Expand the Nanning Channel

An all-time high of 27 high-end forums and conferences will be held on those fields related to building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The China-ASEAN Information Harbor Forum will theme on Internet Plus Maritime Silk Road: Cooperation, Reciprocity and Win-Win Outcomes, which will maximize the "Internet Plus" model to facilitate flows of commodities, data and information, forging a synergy with traditional models for implementing The Belt and Road Initiative and accelerating construction of the China-ASEAN Information Harbor.

All the 27 forums and conferences cover international capacity cooperation, information harbor, e-commerce, cooperation among port cities, economic corridor, environmental protection, mining sector, electric power, education, culture, drug safety, finance, sports, information and publicity, health, tourism, city management and insurance.

Some of these forums and conferences have been convened for many times, and have established a series of mechanisms for cooperation, for example, the information harbor forum and those on finance, science and technology, Customs and think tank. And some of them are new ones, such as the international capacity cooperation forum and those on statistics, food security and rehabilitation of disabled people. The information harbor forum will promote the harbor based to be grounded on an earlier date. The Roundtable Meeting on China-Indo-China Peninsular International Economic Corridor will boost infrastructure connectivity among countries along the corridor, Customs clearance facilitation, trade and investment facilitation and building cross-border economic and trade cooperation parks. More country-to-country cooperation mechanisms will be established, and more projects contracted at these events will be settled as soon as possible.

Additionally, the 12th CAEXPO arranges the China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Exhibition, the Nanning International Arts Festival of Folk Songs, the China-ASEAN Youth Arts Contest and many cultural exchange events, in order to strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between Chinese and ASEAN peoples, promoting people-to-people exchanges on both sides.

Practicing Frugality but Ensuring Considerate Services for Fairgoers

When preparing for the 12th CAEXPO and CABIS, the organizers uphold the principle of frugality, adopting various measures to cut down operation costs, and investing more resources and strengthen to those business matching and promotion activities held on sideline. All major events give priority to those activities that will deliver practical results, reduce common ceremonial programs and streamline their reception work procedures. All forums under the CAEXPO framework shall be closely related to the key fields for cooperation between China and ASEAN and shall involve substantial contents. Meanwhile, immense efforts are made to protect the environment and reduce operation costs. For instance, all event passes will be reclaimed and recycled for the next year.

New measures are taken to improve management and services. All facilities for on-site service purpose will be upgraded. Quantitative management will be employed for on-site service items. Rules for implementation regarding on-site security check, meals, traffic control, transport and Customs clearance, supporting services, project construction, fire prevention and safety issues will be formulated. To sum up, one-stop professional services will be provided for visiting companies and businesses.