Backgrounder: China-ASEAN Expo

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Since Chinese Premiere Wen Jiabao first proposed the China-ASEAN Expo the expo has been held now for five years in Nanning. It is a very important platform for China-ASEAN cooperation.

At the 2003 China-ASEAN leaders' meeting, Chinese Premiere Wen Jiabao proposed an annual China-ASEAN business and investment forum in Nanning. The proposal was welcomed by most ASEAN leaders.

The first China-ASEAN expo was held in October 2004, and it was the first expo focused on regional free trade, initiating a new platform for the cooperation between China and ASEAN.　　

In the second expo held in 2005, 11 participant countries put forward 11 cities, to deepen the cooperation further down to city level.

The expo in 2006 witnessed the 15th anniversary of the establishment of China and ASEAN dialogue. Leaders from 11 countries recognized the expo helps reach a win-win situation for all countries.

In 2007, the expo formed a system of "theme countries". Each year's expo has one to two theme countries introduce and promote themselves and their economies.

At the fifth expo last year, Chinese enterprises accelerated their pace in international business. In software, information and infrastructure, the contracts signed last year jumped by three-quarters compared to the previous year.

The five expos have attracted 29 leaders and royal members, more than 800 ministers, as well as 120 businesses. The five expos also witnessed trade volume of 6.5 billion US dollars and international cooperation investment agreement worth nearly 30 billion US dollars.

The five expos have also held more than 100 professional seminars, exploring cooperation in port, quality check, poverty reduction and law. China-ASEAN expo has now become the most important expo in the region.