皇冠体育app

Economy

More than 2,000 companies participate in 皇冠体育app-ASEAN Expo

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-10-20 09:34

NANNING - More than 2,000 enterprises from home and abroad are taking part in the 7th 皇冠体育app-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO), which opened Tuesday in Nanning, the capital of South 皇冠体育app's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The event has a total of 4,600 exhibition booths, all for exhibitors from 皇冠体育app and the ten nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which 1,178 booth are for ASEAN participating companies.

Many of the participants were buoyed by the zero-tariff framework under the 皇冠体育app-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA), which was established on Jan 1 this year.

Angel Lam, a senior representative of the ASEAN Secretariat, said at a press briefing Tuesday that CAFTA has finally become reality after years of efforts and ASEAN countries hoped to further exchanges and promote cooperation with 皇冠体育app in the fields of transport, education, science and technology, as well as sports through the CAEXPO platform.

With a population of 1.9 billion, CAFTA is the world's first free trade area established among developing countries and the world's third largest FTA in terms of trade volume, only after the North American FTA and the European FTA.

Related readings:  皇冠体育app to strengthen ties with ASEAN  皇冠体育app-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit opens  皇冠体育app-ASEAN Expo kicks off in S 皇冠体育app  皇冠体育app-ASEAN zone boosts cooperation

Representing the first free trade area agreement signed by 皇冠体育app, CAFTA will provide zero tariffs on 90 percent of products traded between 皇冠体育app and ASEAN and other favorable policies on trade and investment.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The six-day CAEXPO has the theme "CAFTA and New Opportunities" and will host 10 high-level forums on financial, agriculture, electricity, law and medicine.

Jia Guoyong, deputy director of Trade and Development of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC), told the press briefing on CAEXPO that the accumulative investment between 皇冠体育app and ASEAN reached $69.4 billion?by the end of June this year.

ASEAN has become 皇冠体育app's third largest importing market and the fourth largest exporting market as 皇冠体育app-ASEAN trade topped $185.38 billion in the first eight months of this year, according to MOC statistics.

During the January-August period, 皇冠体育app's imports from ASEAN jumped 54.4 percent year-on-year to $97.31 billion, while its exports to ASEAN rose 40 percent year-on-year to $88.07 billions, resulting a trade deficit of $9.23 billion.

CAEXPO was initiated by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the 7th 皇冠体育app-ASEAN summit in 2003, in a bid to promote the establishment of CAFTA and common prosperity.