(III) New progress was made in cooperation with non-CAFTA economies and more business opportunities were created.

The Republic of Korea, being the Special Guest Country for the 12th CEAXPO, made breakthroughs in exhibition. It set up an independent exhibition zone. A vice minister with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Energy headed a delegation comprising government officials and business elites and attended the CAEXPO. Korea also held a promotion conference during the fair period. Added to the list of regions included in the CAEXPO cooperation framework are the RCEP members and countries along the Belt and the Road. Besides China and the 10 ASEAN countries, the 12th CAEXPO drew exhibitors and buying missions from India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Ghana, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Georgia, Russia, the United States and Canada.

New progress was also seen in CAEXPO’s substantial cooperation with international organizations. The CAEXPO organized for the first-ever Symposium on Trade Facilitation and Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Establishment of WTO. The symposium highly commended the achievements of the China-ASEAN FTA and its contribution to promoting trade facilitation, and the important roles played by the CAEXPO as well. That the WTO becomes a Supporting Organization of the CAEXPO has injected fresh impetus to the CAEXPO for serving the upgrade of the China-ASEAN FTA and promoting trade facilitation around the world.

(IV) New achievements scored by the concurrent high-end forums, conferences and exchanges events, expanding cooperation on all fronts.

A record high of 27 high-end forums and conferences combined have been held during the 12th CAEXPO. With these exchanges activities featuring multi-field cooperation, ministerial negotiations and dialogues between government officials, entrepreneurs, experts and scholars and eminent figures of different professions, a number of cooperation mechanism have been established and a batch of major projects were conclude or launched, which enriches the Nanning Channel for cooperation and accelerating construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

With respect to Internet information, the China-ASEAN Information Harbor Forum was held. Mr. Lu Wei, head of the State Internet Information Office of China, Mr. Peng Qinghua, secretary of the CPC Guangxi Committee and minister of the Lao Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications have attended the forum and delivered keynote speeches. The forum unveiled the plaque for the information harbor base. The National Internet Information Office of China and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of Lao PDR signed an MOU on Cyber Space Cooperation and Development. The Xinhua News Agency kicked off composition and R&D of the China-ASEAN (Nanning) Monetary Indicators and the Pan Beibu Gulf Economic Indicators, building the information harbor into an information hub along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.The CABIS attracted leading e-commerce companies like Alibaba, Jindong, Sina and Amazon. A number of key and large-scaled cooperation projects were concluded, including the Guangxi “Internet+” Products’ QR Code Center, the strategic cooperation project between the Department of Commerce of Guangxi and Sunning, the strategic cooperation project with Jindong Group on introducing e-commerce to rural areas and the first cross-border e-commerce experience center to be built in Nanning, etc. The china-ASEAN Cross-border E-commerce Cooperation & Development Forum launched the Alibaba 1688 Import Sources Platform in Fangchenggang, a major breakthrough made by Guangxi to popularize e-commerce across the province.