On the afternoon of July 30, the 11th CAEXPO & CABIS Organizing Committee Conference was held in Beijing. As cooperation between China and the ASEAN has stepped into the “Diamond Decade,” with both sides ushering in a new situation of jointly building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, discussion was held and planning was made during the conference with an eye to ensuring better organization of the CAEXPO and CABIS, realizing development and better service for the state’s strategic diplomatic relations with neighboring countries and regions.

Gao Hucheng, director of the CAEXPO organizing committee and minister of commerce; Jiang Zengwei, director of the CABIS organizing committee and chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT); and Chen Wu, deputy director of the CAEXPO organizing committee and governor of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, were present and delivered speeches.

Gao Hucheng said that the CAEXPO and CABIS are the only existing comprehensive platforms within the China-ASEAN cooperation mechanism with China as the host. They play an indispensable role in deepening China’s exchanges and cooperation with the ASEAN as a new mode of cooperation integrating politics and diplomacy, economic and trade cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges.

Gao also emphasized that, in accordance with strategic planning by the central government, the CAEXPO must be reformed and innovated around the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road so that its function as a platform can be better exerted to help promote stable and deepened trade relations between China and the ASEAN, to boost the construction of an “upgraded version” of the China-ASEAN FTA, and to contribute as expected to the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. He said that this year’s CAEXPO and CABIS shall have more visionary preparation and a more balanced arrangement.

There should be key aspects of work to highlight and long-term mechanisms to improve, as Gao pointed out. Innovative efforts must be made and cooperation should be more pragmatic and effective. Working style must be reformed and improved to economize expenditure on the events.

Jiang Zengwei said that the CAEXPO and CABIS have yielded great fruits thanks to joint efforts made by various parties. The CCPIT, said Jiang, will keep coordinating closely to enhance the CABIS’s functions and further facilitating China-ASEAN trade and economic exchanges and cooperation.

Chen Wu said that, guided by the ministries and commissions and gathering all its own strength, Guangxi has successfully hosted 10 sessions of the CAEXPO and CABIS, having built a significant platform for comprehensive cooperation with the ASEAN and fulfilling its task of contributing to serve the state’s strategic diplomatic relations with surrounding countries and regions.

Chen also said that Guangxi will keep on doing all it can to stage an “upgraded version” of the CAEXPO that is “more competent for all-round cooperation, providing service that covers more sectors and wider areas, and with sounder functions of comprehensive service” to serve the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and upgrading the China-ASEAN FTA. Efforts for all these targets include:

I. Constructing land and maritime passageways to connect with the ASEAN and highlighting a multi-dimensional connectivity structure prioritizing maritime transport, express highway, express railway, aviation and optical fiber communication.

II. Building an industrial cooperation belt on the Maritime Silk Road and constructing key industrial cooperation platforms with China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park and Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park as models.

III. Constructing modern trade and logistics bases on the Maritime Silk Road to ensure free flow of goods between China and the ASEAN.

IV. Expediting the construction of pilot zones of comprehensive financial reforms in border areas and the establishment of an open and modernized platform for financial cooperation.

V. Building sister-city relations and people-to-people exchange circles along the Maritime Silk Road.

Zhang Xiaoqin, deputy director and secretary-general of the CAEXPO organizing committee and vice-governor of Guangxi, introduced the preparatory work of the 11th CAEXPO and CABIS and the preliminary plan of upgrading the CAEXPO.

A proposal was deliberated and passed in the conference to include the All-China Federation of Commerce and Industry and some other organizations as members of the CAEXPO and CABIS organizing committees.

Gao Yan, deputy director of the CAEXPO organizing committee and vice-minister of commerce, hosted the conference. Mo Gongming, secretary-general of the Guangxi government; heads of the CAEXPO and CABIS organizing committees; and directors of relevant departments in Guangxi were also present.