On 11 September 2016, the Opening Ceremony of the 13th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and China-ASEAN Business & Investment Summit (CABIS) was held in Nanning, Guangxi Autonomous Region.
Present at the Opening were leaders of the ASEAN countries and China, government officials, diplomatic envoys to China, senior members of relevant organizations, representatives of well-known enterprises and media. H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), attend the ceremony upon invitation.
In his keynote speech at the Opening Ceremony, H.E. Mr. Zhang Gaoli, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council of China, said that China is ready to work with ASEAN to handle China-ASEAN relationships from a strategic and long-term perspective, increase consensus on cooperation, and work together to build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and an even closer China-ASEAN Community of Common Destiny. He made the following six proposals: first, to strengthen the docking of the development strategies of both sides and promote inclusive development; second, to strengthen production capacity cooperation so as to power growth with economic complementarity; third, to enhance economic and trade cooperation and bring the upgraded version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement to early fruition; fourth, to enhance connectivity to deliver more tangible benefits to people of both sides; need to enhance financial cooperation to provide strong support for economic cooperation; fifth, to enhance financial cooperation to provide strong support for economic cooperation; sixth, to enhance people-to-people and cultural exchange to add to the dimensions of our friendship.
H.E. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of Vietnam, the Country of Honour of the 13th CAEXPO, set a high value on the role of CAEXPO in promoting ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership. He said that China-ASEAN dialogue relations has set a successful model for the cooperation between ASEAN and its major partners. Viet Nam and other ASEAN countries are all confident of the future of ASEAN-China economic and trade cooperation. Viet Nam values the key role China plays in the region. It is willing to serve as a promoter of ASEAN-China friendly cooperation，to make joint efforts to improve the investment environment，and to make new contributions to the peaceful development and common prosperity of the region.
H.E. Mr. Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia, commended China on its efforts to enhance economic integration and connectivity of the region，and pledged Cambodia’s full support to the building of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. He noted that the ASEAN Economic Community is not only a huge market with a total population of six hundred million and but also an emerging world market with great potential for development. ASEAN is willing to intensify cooperation with all dialogue partners and China and embracing more Chinese investors to start up businesses there.
H.E. Mr. U Myint Swe, Vice President of Myanmar, H.E. Mr. Sonexay Siphandone, Deputy Prime Minister of Lao PDR, H.E. Mr. Prajin Juntong, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, H.E. Mr. Abdul Rishad Badiutheen, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka (the Special Guest Country of the 13th CAEXPO) made remarks at the Opening Ceremony. H.E. Mr. Peng Qinghua, Secretary of the CPC Guangxi Committee, H.E. Mr. Zhong Shan, International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce of China and H.E. Mr. Chen Zhou, Vice Chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, delivered speeches on behalf of the co-hosts of the Expo. Ma Yun, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group spoke on behalf of entrepreneurs and industrial and commercial circles.
The 13th CAEXPO, themed on “Jointly building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Forging an Even Closer China-ASEAN Community of Common Destiny”, provided a platform for 34 high-level forums covering a record number of over 20 topics including capacity cooperation, China-ASEAN Information Harbour, e-commerce, quality testing, finance, science and technology, satellite navigation, poverty alleviation.