Since its inception in 2004， China-ASEAN Expo （CAEXPO） has become an important platform for promoting all-round exchanges and cooperation between China and ASEAN and is playing an increasingly important role in China-ASEAN cooperation. So， what are the wonderful stories behind the birth of the CAEXPO？ How to promote the upgrading and development of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area （CAFTA）？ Now lets listen to Mr. Zhang Shaogang， the current Director-General of the Department of International Economic and Trade Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce of China and then Assistant to the Negotiators in the Office of International Trade Negotiators of the Ministry of Commerce of China for the negotiations of China-ASEAN free trade.

The birth of CAFTA

After entering the 21st century， the trend of economic globalization and regional economic integration has accelerated， posing severe challenges to developing countries including China and ASEAN countries. WTO negotiations as the main driver of economic globalization have complicated procedures and slow progress. Comparatively speaking， the free trade area participating in the process of regional economic integration is easy to operate and advance， which is highly valued by China and neighboring countries.

Under this backdrop， in November 2000， China put forward the idea of establishing CAFTA.

In 2002， leaders of China and ASEAN countries signed the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Between China and ASEAN， which aims to complete the building of CAFTA in 2010， marking the official launch of CAFTA.

“CAFTA is the first free trade area China has established with foreign investors， the largest free trade area among developing countries in the world， and the largest free trade area in which China has implemented preferential trade arrangements with the largest value of goods benefited and the largest amount of tariff reduction. Following the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China （CPC）， and in accordance with the new requirements of the Central Committee and the State Council for building an open economy， CAFTA is the first free trade area to conclude negotiations on upgrading，” said Zhang Shaogang.

CAEXPO emerging at the right moment

The establishment of CAFTA involves a settlement mechanism from negotiation to decision-making， which needs a communication platform between governments and enterprises and among enterprises to make policies and blueprints， so as to achieve the growth of bilateral trade， investment and services. Therefore， at the 7th China-ASEAN “10+1” Leaders Meeting held in October 2003， leaders of China and ASEAN countries jointly proposed to hold the CAEXPO in Nanning， Guangxi every year since 2004. And this was the birth of CAEXPO.

“When it comes to the CAFTA， we have to say something about the CAEXPO. At the very beginning of the negotiations， we were already thinking about how to build a carrier to show achievements and deepen exchanges of CAFTA in an innovative way. In 2003， when I accompanied Yi Xiaozhun， the then Director-General of International Affairs Department of Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation， （who successively held the posts of the former Assistant Minister and Vice Minister of Commerce， and Ambassador to WTO Delegation， and are the current Deputy Director-General of WTO） attended ASEAN Trade Fair in Bangkok， Thailand， we were inspired by its organization form， exhibition design， as well as the group photo at the opening ceremony that ASEAN leaders held hands to show the unity of ASEAN. After returning to China， we immediately reported to leaders and proposed to hold the CAEXPO as a platform for China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation， with a view to focusing on promoting， publicizing and bearing the achievements made in the construction of CAFTA， and transforming the abstract agreement text into a trade platform with people's participation. Then this proposal was highly valued by the leaders， and we were instructed to immediately report to the State Council， which was soon approved by the leaders of the State Council，” said Zhang.

He also said that since its inception in 2004， CAEXPO has become a propagandist of CAFTA， a bridge for goods to enter mutual markets， a platform for promoting mutual investment of enterprises， a incubator for the new growth point of bilateral economic and trade cooperation and a pool with ideas and suggestions to strengthen bilateral economic and trade cooperation， and played an important role in promoting the implementation of CAFTA and strengthening bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

Serving CAFTA and facilitating trade investment

With the purpose of “promoting the construction of CAFTA and sharing cooperation and development opportunities”， CAEXPO aims to facilitate trade and investment. The previous 15 sessions of CAEXPO， with the participation of 79 Chinese and ASEAN leaders， more than 3，100 ministerial-level guests， and over 746，000 merchants， held 241 meetings and forums in such fields as friendly exchanges， economic and trade promotion and multi-field cooperation.

In the past 15 years， CAEXPO has set exhibitions centering on the construction of CAFTA， and the economic development level， resources endowment， industrial structure and industry characteristics of China and ASEAN countries， highly focused on enterprises， products， projects and capital information of 11 countries， and extended cooperation in traffic convenient logistics， customs clearance， information services， E-commerce and cross-border finance on the basis of promoting trade and investment promotion.

At the same time， CAEXPO will also promote the investment and trade facilitation of CAFTA from the government level to the enterprise level， and become the booster for the construction of CAFTA.

Over the past 15 years， the economic and trade efficiency of CAEXPO has been continuously improved， which has promoted the effective connection between enterprises， industries and business associations of the two sides， made daily trade and investment activities more convenient and efficient， and greatly promoted China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation. From January to November 2018， China-ASEAN bilateral trade volume reached US$ 539.83 billion. By the end of 2017， the cumulative two-way investment between China and ASEAN was nearly US$ 200 billion.

These remarkable achievements not only serve as a powerful witness to the promotion of commodity trade， investment cooperation， advanced technology transfer， service trade， urban exchanges， industrial docking and sub-regional cooperation of CAEXPO， but also reflect the win-win results of CAFTA and promote China-ASEAN strategic partnership to a higher level.

On January 1， 2020， CAFTA will mark the 10th anniversary of its establishment， and CAEXPO will shoulder heavy responsibilities. At present， CAEXPO is continuing to upgrade itself， and further enhance the level of specialization， internationalization， branding and informatization， so as to better serve the construction of CAFTA， China-ASEAN Community of Shared Destiny and the Belt and Road.