The 18th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABIS) were held in Nanning, Guangxi from 10-13 September 2021, with the theme of "Sharing Opportunities Created by the New Land-Sea Corridor: Building the China-ASEAN Community with a Shared Future". The President of China, Mr. Xi Jinping, sent his congratulatory message to this year’s CAEXPO, while the Vice President of China, Mr. Wang Qishan, graced the opening ceremony in person. Trustana was invited to attend the China-ASEAN Business Leaders Forum & Special Meeting as part of CAEXPO, and kicked off the event alongside Mr Wang Qishan and other senior industry leaders.
The forum was hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the People’s Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, co-sponsored by the chambers of commerce and industry of the 10 ASEAN countries, and organized by the CABIS Secretariat. About 200 government officials, business executives and industry experts from China and ASEAN attended the forum to discuss opportunities arising from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). They also explored further cooperation such as the co-building of the new land-sea trade corridor, financial reforms and digital innovations that will take bilateral economic and trade exchanges to new heights.
Mdm Gao Yan, Chairwoman of the CCPIT, and Mr. Sun Dawei, Chairman of the CPPCC Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region spoke in-person at the forum, while Mr. Jurin Laksanawisit, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, and Mr. Lim Ming Yan, Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation, delivered their speeches virtually. Mr. Lim Ming Yan shared that Singapore is the first among RCEP participating countries to ratify this trade pact and is committed to the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area, which was ASEAN’s first free trade agreement with an external partner. Beyond physical connectivity, Singapore also established the Electronic Origin Data Exchange System and will continue to work with China and ASEAN partners on a series of projects.
The “Cooperation Initiative on the Joint Consulting, Contributing and Sharing of Benefits of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor” announced during the forum was received positively from all parties. This initiative covers a number of plans such as encouraging industry associations from various countries to co-build a multimodal transportation alliance, seeking new modes for logistics collaboration, as well as promoting joint trade and investment activities with a focus of industrial development and economic cooperation along the new land-sea corridor. Trustana, a Singapore-based cross-border e-commerce B2B platform specialising in the food industry, as well as its strategic partners, OneConnect Financial Technology Co., Ltd. (OCFT) and Open Gateway for Financial Services (Guangxi) Cross Border Financial Digital Co., Ltd., were invited to attend the opening ceremony where they expressed their support for the initiative.
In June this year, Trustana established a strategic collaborating with OCFT. Trustana will work with OneSME under OCFT and its affiliated company, Open Gateway for Financial Services (Guangxi) Cross Border Financial Digital Co., Ltd., to leverage opportunities that CAEXPO provides by connecting relevant trade partners and enabling greater access to the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) markets of China and ASEAN countries.
"Building a Shared Future with 30 Years of Dialogue Relations" is the theme of this year’s forum, echoing the historical importance that the 30-year dialogue relations between China and ASEAN has played. RCEP provides a fresh opportunity for the international trade community, and the launch of digital collaboration in cross-border supply chain via the new land-sea trade corridor will encourage further cooperation.