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On the morning of September 21, 2012, the opening ceremony of the ninth China-ASEAN Expo was held in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Vice President Xi Jinping announced the commencement of the Expo. Myanmar President U Thein Sein, Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Mohamad Yassin and Thai Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong attended the opening ceremony. The People's Daily Online interviewed Secretary General Ma Mingqiang of the ASEAN-China Center on issues such as China-ASEAN business cooperation and its future development.

People's Daily Online: Vice President Xi Jinping and several ASEAN state leaders attended the opening ceremony of the ninth China-ASEAN Expo, underscoring the high importance attached to the Expo. What role has the China-ASEAN Expo played in enhancing China-ASEAN relations? What are the highlights of the current Expo compared with previous years?

Ma Mingqiang: I believe that the China-ASEAN Expo has played a comprehensive role for China-ASEAN relations mainly in the following three areas. First, state leaders have been involved in person and friendship and mutual trust have been enhanced. Initiated by Premier Wen Jiabao in 2003, the China-ASEAN Expo was first held in Nanning, Guangxi in 2004 and has been held eight times since then. Forty-two Chinese and ASEAN state leaders and more than 1500 ministers and VIPs have attended the event. Vice President Xi Jinping and several ASEAN state leaders were present at the opening ceremony of the Expo this year.

Second, the Expo has promoted the development of China-ASEAN FTA (CAFTA) and delivered development opportunities to all. The Expo has been held eight times to date and attended by nearly 320,000 business visitors who reached deals worth 11.7 billion US dollars and signed international cooperation projects with a total investment of 49.1 billion US dollars at the Expo. The number of business visitors and projects signed at the Expo has been growing steadily every year and is expected to reach a new high this year.

Third, the Expo has enhanced mutual understanding and people-to-people exchanges. Various cultural activities such as cultural forum, folk song festival, artwork competition and different exhibitions are held during the Expo every year, which has deepened mutual understanding and perception between people of China and ASEAN countries. It is alive and fit to describe the China-ASEAN Expo as "11 countries set the stage, 1.9 billion people perform and 7 billion people cheer".

There are many highlights of the current Expo. For instance, in order to boost cooperation between the sectors of China and ASEAN, the first Coffee Exhibition was held during the ninth Expo to showcase the coffee products of ASEAN and the coffee culture of Southeast Asian countries. In order to expand two-way investment cooperation, the first Conference of ASEAN Industrial Parks was held during the Expo to attract investment from Chinese businesses. The ninth Expo also provided quality and convenient exhibition services to the participating businesses and visitors, such as appointing a director for the exhibition hall, wireless Internet access, one-stop service and better security measures.

People'Daily Online: It is commented that with a history of less than 10 years, the China-ASEAN Expo is still at the primary stage, smaller and less influential than the Canton Fair. One third of the trade deals between China and ASEAN are reached at the Canton Fair. Then what are the advantages of the Expo in boosting China-ASEAN trade compared with the Canton Fair?

Ma Mingqiang: Though less than 10 years old since its birth in 2004, the China-ASEAN Expo has distinctive international and regional features. As a high-profile Expo covering a wide range of sectors, it is the only international trade fair at national level themed on the China-ASEAN FTA, serving as the most effective bridge linking businesses and markets of China and ASEAN countries. According to ASEAN media, the China-ASEAN Expo has played a crucial role for pushing forward China-ASEAN business cooperation since the first time it was held. The Expo has successfully epitomized the direct exchanges between China and ASEAN and become one of the latter's easiest access to the Chinese market.

I would like to stress in particular that the China-ASEAN Expo meets the trend of regional economic integration and economic globalization. The Expo, tailored to the China-ASEAN FTA (CAFTA), has been mandated to push for the development of the CAFTA since its birth. It has constantly injected new vitality into the development of the CAFTA and contributed to the sustained and fast growth of China-ASEAN business cooperation.

The Expo has exhibited tariff reduction products of the CAFTA, superior products with strong complementarity and brand name products and facilitated business access to the market of the other side. The Expo has also integrated the investment promotion agencies, economic parks and financial institutions of the 11 countries for strong synergy, through which a large number of major investment cooperation projects have come into effect and a host of projects concerning people's welfare have been signed and completed for use successively. The Expo has boosted China-ASEAN financial and tourism exchanges in an all-round way and deepened bilateral cooperation in service trade. It is fair to say that the China-ASEAN Expo has not only played an outstanding economic role, but also generated enormous social benefits and far-reaching political influence.

People's Daily Online: Although ASEAN is China's third largest trading partner, there are some problems in their trade relations, such as the quality of Chinese products and the trade deficit of ASEAN countries with China. How do you see the prospect of China-ASEAN business cooperation? What will the ASEAN-China Center do to boost their cooperation?

Ma Mingqiang: I have full confidence in China-ASEAN business cooperation which meets the general historical trend. The volume of China-ASEAN trade reached 362.8 billion US dollars in 2011, registering a 5.6 fold increase than that of 10 years ago and an average annual growth of over 20%. Two-way trade volume stands at 220.57 billion US dollars for the first seven months of 2012, growing 9% over the same period of the previous year, which is faster than China's foreign trade growth. It underscores both the economic interdependence and strong complementarity between the two sides.

The ASEAN-China Center (ACC) is the sole international intergovernmental organization between China and ASEAN countries. It aims at promoting China-ASEAN cooperation in trade, investment and other fields. The ACC offers authoritative information through various activities and seeks closer cooperation with other governments and international organizations. The ACC also builds ties with different sectors, helps investors find the right partner and brings out the full benefits of the CAFTA.

Since its inception last year, the ACC has made promotional tours of CAFTA policies in Tianjin, Jiangsu and other places, hosted investment promotion forum together with the Indonesian and Vietnamese Embassies in China, and led Chinese business delegation to Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar. The Center is now making preparation to publish the Guide to Investment in ASEAN. We will continue to promote exchanges between the business community and the government, lead business delegations to ASEAN countries, organize meetings for businesses of the two sides, and make promotional tours of CAFTA policies so that we can contribute to an early realization of the target of bringing two-way trade volume to500 billion US dollars.