Written by Guan Qiuyun / Translated by Chen Zhiying

Recently, LMZ toothpaste was on the “hot search” due to a misunderstanding. After the popularity faded, many netizens got to know this local brand in Guangxi.The philosophy of “inheriting the quintessence of China, creating and leading the TCM daily use” long upheld by LMZ not only makes it have influences in China but also helps it to enter the ASEAN market with the help of the China-ASEAN Expo (hereinafter referred to as the CAEXPO).

In recent years, taking advantage of the CAEXPO, many Guangxi enterprises have entered the ASEAN market and become the first force in promoting China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation.

From “l(fā)ocal brand” to “national brand”

In the past 17 years, the CAEXPO has enabled Chinese enterprises to establish stable industrial channels and cooperative relations with the ASEAN region. Under the background of market internationalization, Guangxi local enterprises have firmly seized the opportunities, consolidating product quality, and completing the transformation from a local brand in Guangxi to a national brand in the world.

Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as Liugong),which has never been absent from the CAEXPO for 17 consecutive years, is the backbone enterprise of engineering machinery in China and has a wide marketing and service network in the ASEAN region. “Liugong’s products have achieved rapid growth through the CAEXPO. Our share of road rollers ranks first in Vietnam. In Malaysia,Indonesia, Thailand, and other ASEAN countries, Liugong’s loader sales are also far ahead,” said Liang Yongjie,Senior Deputy General Manager of Liugong international marketing division. With the signing of the RCEP,the competitiveness of Liugong’s machine products exported to Southeast Asia will become stronger and stronger in the future. The enterprise will continue to follow the pace of the CAEXPO and show the world the intelligent machinery technology from Guangxi.

In January 2021, the sales orders of Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as Guangxi Yuchai) reached 82,000, and the product market share continued to rise,achieving a “good start” in the new year. Guangxi Yuchai first took part in the CAEXPO in 2004 and it was just at that time that the company achieved initial development in Vietnam. Having seen the opportunity, Guangxi Yuchai took part in the CAEXPO regularly.Over the years, with the help of the CAEXPO, Vietnam has become the largest overseas market of Guangxi Yuchai. And with the support of national policies, the development momentum of Guangxi Yuchai also shows gratifying prospects in Myanmar, the Philippines,Laos, and other countries.

In addition, in face of changes in the general environment, Guangxi Yuchai actively communicated with foreign counterparts and merchants by participating in the 17thCAEXPO,optimized the international layout,overcame the negative impact of the overseas epidemic on the import supply chain, placed orders in advance,conducted information management and control, revitalized the supply of upst ream par ts and logistics transportation, thus to ensure the production and on-time delivery of engines. Because of that, it gained a large number of orders from Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, and other regions, injecting a strong impetus into the engine market under the global epidemic.

Wu Kun, President of LMZ, said during the 17thCAEXPO that LMZ has participated in the CAEXPO for eight consecutive years and has achieved all the marketing target of setting up its branches in the 10 ASEAN countries.Businesses from Europe and Africa also expressed strong cooperation intention in the online live broadcast. LMZ would continue to make use of the CAEXPO to transfer the market from Southeast Asia to Europe and America.

CAEXPO provides an opportunity for enterprises to land in Guangxi

The biggest advantage of Guangxi lies in its location and the biggest potential lies in its openness. Taking the express train of the CAEXPO to realize “base on Guangxi, cover ASEAN and go global” has become a new development goal for more and more enterprises.

It is said that at present, Nanning Area of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone (hereinafter referred to as Nanning Area) has established Guangxi (Nanning)Financial Innovation Joint Laboratory. It has promoted the implementation of a series of projects such as cross-border financial innovation of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and “bond connect”. The person in charge of the Management Committee of Nanning Area said that through the CAEXPO, more enterprises and businesses from all over the country have seen the policy dividends and business opportunities in Guangxi. Coupled with the attraction of the huge potential from the ASEAN market, Guangxi has become a hot spot for foreign enterprises to invest and settle down. These new enterprises that establish their presence in Guangxi not only strengthen the team of local enterprises but also deeply integrate into the economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN.

As a strategic partner of the government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Pacific Construction has already formed a deep relationship with the CAEXPO. “As early as 2017, we signed an investment agreement worth RMB 450 billion yuan with Guangxi government through the CAEXPO and thus established a branch in Guangxi. Through participating in the CAEXPO in recent years, we have not only expanded our markets to ASEAN but also contributed to Guangxi’s economic development,said Yan Hao, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pacific Construction.

The CAEXPO also has a great influence on leading intelligent technology enterprises like Huawei,Xiaomi, Inspur, Shenzhou Information, and so on.Based on Guangxi and focused on the business opportunities of ASEAN, they have signed strategic cooperation framework agreements with Guangxi respectively. This will tilt the enterprise advantages and services to Guangxi more comprehensively and inject great momentum into the building of China-ASEAN Digital Economic Development Demonstration Zone and Information Silk Road Hub.

Yuchai's YCK13 heavy-duty engine mining cars were applied at an altitude of 5,400 metres

CAEXPO is conducive to popularize Guangxi brands

2021 is not only the first year of the 14thFive-Year Plan but also marks the 30thanniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN dialogue relations and the year of China-ASEAN sustainable development cooperation. In addition, Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone has gained certain development and local enterprises have had some experience in entering the ASEAN market. Everything is ready for popularizing Guangxi brands except for one key element.

An upgrading, innovative and optimized CAEXPO is that element.

In an interview with the media in January 2021, Wang Lei,Secretary-General of the CAEXPO Secretariat, pointed out that the next CAEXPO will optimize the exhibition in accordance with the “dual circulation” development pattern and the “14thFive-Year Plan”, continue to hold a series of high-level forums, further play the role of “Nanning Channel”, and deepen and consolidate China-ASEAN cooperation in key areas. This undoubtedly will build a bridge for Guangxi brands to cooperate with enterprises from all over the world, and will provide a public platform for Guangxi enterprises to seek business opportunities in the ASEAN region.

It is reported that the next CAEXPO will extend to serve RCEP,and Guangxi enterprises will take this opportunity to explore a broader overseas market. At the same time, the 18thCAEXPO will continue to be held both online and offline. The presence of crossborder E-commerce, 3D exhibition hall, cloud live broadcast, and other technical platforms will enable Guangxi enterprises to gain all-day economic and trade services and expand more cooperation channels and business partners. A constantly upgrading and developing CAEXPO will provide more opportunities for Guangxi enterprises to go global and popularize their brands.