Mr. Fu Ziying

Assistant Minister of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China

Sept.15, 2005

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning! The first China-ASEAN Exposition, jointly sponsored by the commercial authorities of China and the ten ASEAN members, and the ASEAN Secretariat, was convened successfully last year in Nanning, Guangxi. The second China-ASEAN Expo will be held from October 19 to 22 this year in Nanning. The second China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit is also going to be held during the Expo.

The China-ASEAN Expo was held against the background of deepening and broadening trade and economic cooperation and the China-ASEAN FTA’s implementation entering full swing. ASEAN countries are good neighbors of China. The bilateral relations have entered into a new phase of rapid and comprehensive development while new progress has been made in all areas of cooperation since the signing between China and the ASEAN the “Joint Declaration of a Peace-and-Prosperity-Oriented Strategic Partnership” in 2003. There has been deepened political trust, strengthened trade ties, deepened security dialogue and expanded areas of cooperation.

In recent years, the scale of China-ASEAN trade and economic cooperation has been growing, its level improving, thus ushering in a prime era of development. From 2002 to 2004, the China-ASEAN bilateral trade increased at an annual rate of 38.9%. In 2004, bilateral trade registered at $105.9 billion, reaching the $100 billion target one year in advance. Since the launching of the China-ASEAN FTA in 2002, the bilateral trade increased by $50 billion just within two years. The ASEAN is now China’s 5th largest export market and 4th largest import supplier. In the first half of this year, the bilateral trade reached $59.76 billion, increasing by 25%. The ASEAN is now China’s 4th largest trading partner. During his visit to the ASEAN in April this year, President Hu Jintao pointed out that by 2010 the trade between China and the ASEAN should reach $200 billion.

Based on the deepening bilateral trade and economic cooperation, the establishment of the China-ASEAN FTA is speeding up, especially after the launching of the China-ASEAN FTA tariff reduction program in July this year, which marked the beginning of the full implementation stage of the FTA.

It is against this general background that the China-ASEAN Expo is convened. It will undoubtedly further promote the trade and economic cooperation between China and the ASEAN; while in the meantime the FTA will provide the conditions for the development of the Expo.

The China-ASEAN Expo is an important platform and accelerator for China-ASEAN trade and economic cooperation. It is a concrete action of the governments of China and the ten ASEAN countries to convene the China-ASEAN Expo in a bid to promote cooperation between the business communities and accelerate the establishment of the China-ASEAN FTA.

Last November, the First China-ASEAN Expo was successfully held in Nanning, Guangxi. There were six national leaders and 166 Chinese and foreign officials of vice ministerial level and above attended the Expo, which also attracted 1,505 company participants and over 20,000 individual participants and visitors. Deals with a total value of $1.084 billion were made during the Expo, involving 129 foreign investment projects, which were of a contractual value of $4.978 billion.

At the 8th China-ASEAN (10+1) Summit, leaders of the ASEAN countries congratulated on the success of the first Expo, and wrote it into the Chair’s Statement following the Summit. As the pace of the FTA quickens, the business communities in China and the ASEAN will gain more opportunities in each other’s market and better enjoy the benefits of trade liberalization and investment facilitation through the China-ASEAN Expo. The Expo is becoming an accelerator promoting the trade and economic cooperation between China and the ASEAN.

The China-ASEAN Expo is not only a platform for trade and economic cooperation, but also an important venue where the 11 countries have exchanges in areas of politics, diplomacy, culture, etc. The second China-ASEAN Expo will focus on trade and economic cooperation and have four subjects, namely countries, trade in goods, investment cooperation and tourism. In the second Expo, there is going to be a “China-ASEAN, Cities of Glamour” event, in which major cities of the 11 countries will have in-depth exchanges.

The organising committee of the Expo will also invite major chambers of commerce of the ASEAN countries to be the supporting partners of the Expo, in order to promote the mutually beneficial cooperation amongst the chambers of commerce of the 11 countries. The China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit and the “Charm of Southeast Asia” performance show and the Nanning International Folk Music and Art Festival, amongst others, are going to be held during the Expo.

It is fair to say that the China-ASEAN Expo will be a forum where state-level diplomatic activities are to be held in parallel with friendly exchanges amongst cities; where trading of goods and investment cooperation will come hand in hand with tourism presentation and display of technological fruits; where high-level forums are to be accompanied by business elites speeches; and where talks between the businesses are to be concurrent with dialogues between senior government officials and entrepreneurs.

The great variety of cultural and artistic activities will also present the gem of the Chinese and ASEAN folk cultures to the participants. The China-ASEAN Expo is not only a platform of trade and economic cooperation, but also a stage for diplomacy and a venue of cultural exchanges.

The China-ASEAN Expo will correspond with the tariff reduction process of the FTA and focus more on the end-results. Since last July when the tariff reduction process was initiated, the goods between China and the ASEAN have been able to enter into each other’s market smoothly at low tariffs or zero tariffs and under improved terms of market access. The growth of trade in goods also benefits the technical cooperation, tourism and logistics and other trade in services of the two sides.

The second China-ASEAN Expo will correspond with the tariff reduction program of the FTA; increase its size moderately in order to accommodate the business communities’ demand to further tap into the markets as the tariff reduction brings them opportunities; arrange the subjects of the Expo in a more professional manner; and become more result-oriented in business and project matchmaking; and be more business-oriented by providing the clients with better services. As the tariff reduction started, the role of the China-ASEAN Expo in promoting the trade and economic cooperation between China and the ASEAN will be further enhanced, thus bringing more businesses to this platform to present their products, seek business opportunities, have investment cooperation and enjoy the real benefits of the China-ASEAN FTA.

As one of the co-sponsors of the China-ASEAN Expo, the Ministry of Commerce of China and the organiser, namely the people’s government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, have made sufficient preparations for the Expo. I believe that with the concerted efforts of China and the ASEAN countries, the China-ASEAN Expo, by taking advantage of the opportunities brought about by the FTA tariff reduction, will surely provide more business opportunities and enable the enterprises to fully enjoy the fruits and real benefits of the cooperation under the FTA.

Let us make use of the platform, namely the China-ASEAN Expo, to further expand and deepen the mutually beneficial China-ASEAN cooperation, and work towards the comprehensive, deepened and pragmatic trade and economic cooperation between China and ASEAN, and the common prosperity of the region.

Thank you!