Contribute to maintaining the international multilateral trade order

——Written on the occasion of the opening of the 22nd China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit

In the golden autumn season, Nanning, Guangxi welcomes guests from all over the world. The 22nd China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, which will be opened on September 17, focus on the theme of "digital intelligence empowers development, innovation leads the future - using new opportunities in the China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone 3.0 version to help build a community with a shared future", will inject more certain factors into the development of regional economic integration.

When welcoming the East China Expo and Summit in Nanning, the Ningming Aidian Port in Chongzuo City, more than 200 kilometers away from Nanning, was also busy. The truck fleet connects from beginning to end, and the carriage exudes the aroma of fruits such as durian and mangosteen. In October last year, after the designated supervision site for imported fruits at Aidian Port was opened, it opened an important channel for Vietnamese fruits to enter the Chinese market easily. As of August 31 this year, the inbound and outbound cargo volume at Aidian Port was 1.2971 million tons, an increase of 137.61% year-on-year; the total value of goods reached 77.423 billion yuan, an increase of 150.84% ​​year-on-year, exceeding the total amount last year.

The compact and orderly inspection process makes vehicle inspection smooth as flowing water. "We promote the 'all-weather appointment inspection on time' service, and ensure the 'inspection as soon as the goods arrive and release as soon as they pass' to ensure the 'zero delay' of fresh products' customs clearance." Xu Xiangfeng, political instructor of the second team on duty at Aidian Border Inspection Station, said.

Trade liberalization and facilitation are the core essence of regional economic integration. Relying on the "Nanning Channel" formed by the East China Expo and the Summit, all parties have strengthened communication and coordination, simplified the process in customs clearance, inspection and quarantine, logistics and transportation, etc., and improved the logistics clearance efficiency.

At the same time, the China International Fair and Summit actively built a trade promotion platform, providing enterprises with a large number of business opportunities. According to statistics, over the past 21 years, the China International Fair has attracted more than 1.3 million merchants to participate in the exhibition and conference, continuously improving the level of economic and trade cooperation; more than 200 business economic and trade activities were held under the framework of the summit, and a number of major project cooperation was promoted.

The ASEAN Expo and the Summit have made positive contributions to the continued expansion of the scale of trade between China and ASEAN. In the first seven months of this year, China's trade with ASEAN reached US$597 billion, an increase of 8.2% year-on-year. China has remained the largest trading partner of ASEAN for 16 consecutive years, and ASEAN has become China's largest trading partner for five consecutive years.

Investment cooperation is an important driving force for regional economic integration. A series of investment promotion activities under the framework of the ASEAN Expo and the summit have built a service system covering the entire industrial chain, effectively promoting the implementation of major cooperation projects between China and relevant countries in ASEAN. A series of landmark investment projects such as China-Malaysia "Two Countries and Two Parks" and SAIC-GM-Wuling Indonesian Automobile Manufacturing Base have been implemented. As of July this year, China and ASEAN have accumulated more than US$450 billion in two-way investment.

Against the backdrop of the booming rise of a new round of global scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, the ASEAN Expo and the Summit have actively promoted in-depth cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in emerging fields such as the digital economy and the green economy, and cultivated new growth points for the regional economy.

"The 22nd ASEAN Expo will hold a dialogue on China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation to guide enterprises to strengthen docking and cooperation around key areas such as digital economy and green economy covered by the 3.0 version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone." Wei Zhaohui, Secretary-General of the China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat, said.

Artificial intelligence is the biggest highlight of the 22nd China International Fair and Summit. The China International Artificial Intelligence Center will be held for the first time at the 10,000 square meters of artificial intelligence hall, and will hold the China-ASEAN Artificial Intelligence Ministers' Meeting at the same time, and launch the "AI East Expo" intelligent body to provide enterprises with a more convenient experience in participating in the exhibition.

The summit also insists on empowering all links and entire processes with artificial intelligence. Yang Yanyan, Secretary-General of the Secretariat of the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, introduced that the summit will implement five major artificial intelligence empowerment actions: high-level government-business dialogue, trade and investment industry cooperation, international cooperation network expansion, institutional opening, and application-oriented think tank construction, and promote China and ASEAN to deepen cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence.

Faced with the impact of unilateralism and protectionism on the global production and supply chain, the upcoming ASEAN Expo and Summit will further play the role of a platform for exchanges and cooperation, and contribute new strength to building consensus among all parties in ASEAN, maintaining free trade and multilateral trading system, and serving to accelerate the construction of a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.

Our reporter Tong Zheng Zang Xiao