Officials from China's Ministry of Commerce, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and China Council for Promotion of International Trade have held a joint press conference in Beijing. Officials announce that the 11th China-ASEAN expo will be held in Nanning, capital city of Guangxi, later in September. And the theme of this year's expo to build the 21st century Maritime Silk Road.
"The eleventh expo will extend the service to RCEP cooperation from 10+1 cooperation. It will launch a special guest country mechanism. Australia has confirmed for the participation in it as the first special guest country. Additionally, the WTO, and the International Trade Center will soon become support organizations of the expo. All these new driving forces will promote regional cooperation between China and ASEAN, and to integrate with the global value chain. Efforts to prepare for the expo and summit are made on schedule, enterprises are fairly active in applications for participation as always. We will follow the instructions given by and other members of the expo organizing committee, and make full use of their support to improve and and upgrade the expo, and to make new contribution to build the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st century, and the first year of the Diamond Decade of China-ASEAN cooperation," Zhang Xiaoqin, vice governor of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said.