The third annual China-ASEAN Expo ended in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Friday with a trade volume totaling US$1.27 billion, up 10.2 percent from last year, according to the Expo's organizing committee.

 

 

With the exports of US$1.03 billion, imports of US$75 million and the domestic trade of US$167 million, this year's Expo enjoyed brisk trade growth, announced Li Jinzao, deputy director of the organizing committee at a press conference.

 

Trade in mechanical equipment stood at US$635 million, accounting for half of the total, followed by electronic products, agricultural products and farming materials, he said.

 

Traded goods at the Expo has shifted from agricultural products like fruits and vegetables in 2004 to industrial products this year, said Zhang Xiaoqin, an official with the Secretariat of the Expo.

 

The growing trade of mechanical and high-tech products at the Expo demonstrates changes in the two-way trade between China and ASEAN countries, said Zhang.

 

More than 130 contracts on international projects, including investments of US$5.85 billion, were signed at the Expo, a 10.5-percent growth as compared with last year.

 

The total contractual investments included US$2.56 billion by Chinese investors to projects in ASEAN countries.

 

 

 

 

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2006)