The Nanning sub-venue of the Senior Officials' Meeting for the 19th China-ASEAN Expo held online on April 26. [Photo/China News Service]

For the first time, a special exhibition area for ASEAN and RCEP member countries will be set up at the 19th China-ASEAN Expo, according to an announcement during the Senior Officials' Meeting for the 19th China-ASEAN Expo that was held online on April 26.

The 19th CAEXPO will be held in Nanning, the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, from Sept 16 to 19, and the online CAEXPO will be open all year round.

Yu Xiang of the Ministry of Commerce said that the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has boosted economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN. China will join hands with ASEAN to grasp opportunities brought by RCEP to increase the sound development of the regional economy.

People planning to attend the fair said that they will devote more efforts to organizing exhibitors at the event and will take an active part in organizing economic and trade promotion activities.

Thai officials noted that 50 Thai exhibitors in sectors spanning food, health and fashion will attend the exhibition.

Wang Lei, secretary-general of the CAEXPO Secretariat, said that this year's CAEXPO will have a total on-site exhibition area of 102,000 square meters with 5,400 booths. 

Wang added that the CAEXPO will continue to shoulder the responsibility for being an important China-ASEAN cooperation platform despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and make contributions to the post-pandemic regional economic revival and the establishment of the China-ASEAN community with a shared future.