China, ASEAN to deepen cooperation on industrial capacity

China and ASEAN countries voiced support today to deepen partnership in industrial capacity by integrating mechanisms of economic policy and innovating modes of industrial investment and financing on China-ASEAN Forum on Industrial Capacity Cooperation 2016.

The two-day forum in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, marks the 25 year anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogical relationship establishment. Officials from China and ASEAN countries, members of China Economic and Social Council attended the forum.

Trade between China and ASEAN members has been rising steadily in the past decades, with 2015 bilateral trade volume exceeded $472 billion and bilateral investment reaching $150 billion by the end of 2015.

"Today ASEAN countries are changing very quickly, and will grow by 80 percent in the next 25 years," said Pek Hak Bin, CEO of Cronus Resources Group and director of Energy Market Authority in Singapore. He also cited International Energy Agency that this region requires some $2.5 trillion investment opportunities in energy and infrastructure in the next 20 years.

Du Qinglin, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, encouraged both sides to explore suitable industries to start with, innovate the cooperation mechanism, and strengthen the service system in line with the 'Belt and Road Initiative'.

Speakers also called for innovative investments and financial methods for the ASEAN area. Gao Yingqiu, vice president of Bank of China advocated both sides to set up more funds specially aimed at China-ASEAN economic cooperation, and to attract social capital. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Center also proposed that two sides improve financial arrangement, so as to mobilize the enthusiasm of enterprises.

The countries still face challenges in such cooperation. As the regions are more intertwined with the global economy, "we didn't control our own destiny," said Pek.

The unbalanced regional economy in ASEAN is still severe and some Chinese entrepreneurs lack experiences there, said Pek.

To deal with the challenges, Yang proposed, "legal environment needs to be further improved in ASEAN, and Chinese companies need to learn more on ASEAN market environment. "

Jing Shuiyu contributed to this story