In the golden autumn season, the hibiscus flowers bloom on the land of Guangxi, once again witnessing the fruitful results of China ASEAN cooperation. On September 21st, the 22nd China ASEAN Expo (referred to as the "East Expo") concluded in Nanning, Guangxi. As of September 20th, according to incomplete statistics, this year's East Expo has achieved over 700 achievements, including over 500 signed economic and trade projects, and over 270 achievements in multiple fields and forms. 3260 exhibiting companies from 60 countries came to the appointment and returned with a full load. The closing of the East Expo is not the end, but the starting point of new cooperation. With the continuous expansion of China ASEAN cooperation, more cross-border orders are on the way, more joint research and development is about to be launched, and more production and supply chain links are constantly tightened. The East Expo is taking place, and Chinese and foreign enterprises are embracing new opportunities for regional development together in a two-way journey. Benefiting from a series of favorable policies such as RCEP, trade barriers have been reduced, customs clearance has become faster, and tax incentives have also been favorable, benefiting multiple countries in the shared market opportunities in the region. Walking into the Vietnam Pavilion in the ASEAN countries' exhibition area, a strong aroma of coffee fills the air. At the booth of Vietnam Zhongyuan Legend Group, a wide variety of products such as coffee powder, coffee beans, and instant coffee are displayed, attracting buyers and visitors from various countries to come and taste. Since the first East Expo, we have participated in the exhibition for 22 consecutive years. ”Li Qinghai, the general manager of the Greater China region of the group, told our reporter that "with the help of the East Expo platform, the company's products have entered the Chinese market, and sales and popularity have continued to increase." On January 1, 2022, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) officially came into effect. Driven by a series of favorable policies such as RCEP, there are fewer trade barriers, faster customs clearance, and tax incentives. The saved costs are directly invested in new store operations. In the past three years, we have opened over 20 physical coffee shops in China. ”Li Qinghai said. For seven consecutive years, Teng Qiuju, the agent of Laos Jinzhanpo Tea Co., Ltd., has accumulated a large number of old customers at the East Expo. This year's East Expo is so popular! "She said." Many buyers contacted me early to repurchase Lao ancient tree tea. The individual customers also sold very well, with many people buying 5 or 10 bricks at once, and even some people buying 20 bricks directly. "Old friends came as scheduled, and new friends came to admire the reputation. This year's East Expo attracted 3260 companies to participate, with 30% of the international exhibition area being occupied by ASEAN and other countries. It also attracted over 11000 companies and more than 30000 people to come and purchase. On the first day of the opening ceremony, Chang Yonggong, the head of Vietnam's Minghe Food, who was exhibiting for the first time, decided to "come back next year". As soon as I arrived at the venue, I could feel that the procurement resources of the East Expo were too abundant! "He said." Many consulting clients had clear intentions to cooperate, and the efficiency of docking far exceeded expectations. "" The East Expo greatly increased the trade volume between ASEAN and China, helped each other's products smoothly enter each other's consumer markets, and played a role in deepening regional economic integration and promoting the development of free trade zones. ”Nai Ruiwu, a member of the Senior Advisory Committee of the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies, said. Since the 11th session of the Expo, special partners have been invited to expand from serving "10+1" cooperation to serving RCEP cooperation and jointly building the "the Belt and Road", so as to promote exchanges between China and ASEAN as a whole and countries outside the region and create more business opportunities. In the "the Belt and Road" international exhibition area of this year's East China Expo, Pakistani exhibitor Eddie introduced to our reporter the special exhibits he brought, such as wooden furniture, stone handicrafts, copper products, handmade carpets, etc. I have been participating in the East Expo since 2016, which is an excellent platform to showcase products, connect with customers and buyers from various countries. He said that China has a huge market and can bring development opportunities to all enterprises that embrace it. After more than 20 years of development, the East Expo has become not only a showcase for trade and investment, but also a booster for promoting integration, innovation, and long-term growth. With intelligent glasses with real-time translation function, sound sensitive air drums that can produce sound by tapping the air, and humanoid robots that perform dance, Tai Chi, boxing, etc., this year's East Expo has set up its first artificial intelligence (AI) exhibition hall, and the new products exhibited by Chinese technology companies are very impressive. There are also many ASEAN companies showcasing products such as AI big model applications, intelligent medical platforms, and digital payment tools. Inside the 10000 square meter museum, there is a surge of technological innovation and cooperation enthusiasm everywhere. At the booth of Zhifang, a company specializing in embodied general intelligent robots, the robot "Aibao" showcased its skills: making ice cream, making Guangxi oil tea, and tapping drums... With the support of its embodied large model, this robot can adapt to new environments like a human, learn quickly, switch freely between different scenarios and tasks, and achieve "one machine, multiple capabilities". According to the founder and CEO of the company, Guo Yandong, Zhifang has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Geleximco, the largest private enterprise in Vietnam, and is exploring its application in Singapore, committed to promoting the landing of robots in manufacturing, public services and other fields. At the "AI+ASEAN Enterprise Exhibition Area", Thai company Mandala AI and Chinese partner AsiaInfo Technology jointly participated in the exhibition. China's technology and experience in the field of vertical industry AI are applicable to many ASEAN countries, including Thailand. ”Mandala AI founder and CEO Akalaka Inwale told our reporter. From traditional fields to digital fields, China ASEAN cooperation has been upgraded to a new and intelligent level. According to statistics, the transaction volume of the AI Pavilion at this year's East Expo exceeded 140 million yuan. As ASEAN Secretary General Gao Jinhong said, "After more than 20 years of development, the East Asian Expo has become not only a showcase for trade and investment, but also a booster for promoting integration, stimulating innovation, and driving long-term growth." At the booth of Zhongke Xingtu Co., Ltd., the cloud service platform "Star Map Cloud" attracted the attention of professional audiences from multiple countries. According to Luo Heng, Vice President of Zhongke Xingtu and Dean of Xingtu Cloud Research Institute, the platform has integrated the entire process of satellite data acquisition, processing, AI analysis, and application, providing users with high-quality services. Swedish tech executive Alf praised after learning about "Star Map Cloud" that China's artificial intelligence technology is not only applied in the consumer goods field, but also leads the world in high-end industries such as commercial aerospace, and "multiple technologies are expected to be promoted and used globally". During the East Expo, the "Digital Training Course for Vocational Education in Developing Countries" hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and organized by Guangxi International Business Vocational and Technical College was held in Nanning, and several students visited the AI Pavilion. China not only has leading technology in the field of AI, but also actively supports the digital development of many developing countries. ”Manzur Ahmad, Executive Vice President of Gwadar University in Pakistan, said. A new chapter of win-win business opportunities comes again. "With the east wind of regional economic integration, we not only cooperate with more Chinese dealers, but also have confidence in pushing our products to a broader international market." The negotiations on the China ASEAN Free Trade Area version 3.0 have been fully completed, RCEP has been implemented in high quality, and the "the Belt and Road" has been built in depth and reality. At present, China ASEAN cooperation has burst into vitality and opportunities have emerged. From January to July this year, the trade volume between China and ASEAN reached 597 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%; As of July 2025, the cumulative two-way investment between China and ASEAN has exceeded 450 billion US dollars. China has maintained its position as the largest trading partner of ASEAN for 16 consecutive years, and ASEAN has become China's largest trading partner for 5 consecutive years. Myanmar Prime Minister Nyusuo, the theme country of this year's East Asian Expo, stated that the successful hosting of the Expo has further deepened the comprehensive strategic partnership between ASEAN and China, provided an important platform for cooperation in trade, investment, tourism and other fields, and made significant contributions to the further development of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area. Several Chinese and foreign entrepreneurs have expressed that they will take the East China Expo as an opportunity to unlock new possibilities for cooperation in both directions. The preferential policies such as tariff reduction and facilitation of customs clearance under the RCEP framework have reduced the cost of our products entering the Chinese and other member countries' markets, and made cross-border logistics more efficient. ”Lida, the head of CTV International Trading Co., Ltd. in Bangkok, Thailand, said. During this year's East Expo, she showcased a variety of Thai specialty foods and received attention from internet celebrities and influencers from countries such as Nigeria and the UK. With the help of regional economic integration, we not only cooperate with more Chinese distributors, but also have confidence in promoting our products to a broader international market. At this year's East Expo, the Cambodian Investors' Chamber Alliance organized a collective exhibition of enterprises. Among them, Aufa Mingdian showcased multiple core equipment in the field of power manufacturing. The general manager of the company's business department, Zhang Tianfu, expressed his hope to connect with more high-quality Chinese partners through the East Expo. At the same time, he also plans to use the exhibition as an opportunity to extend his business layout from the existing market to other Southeast Asian countries, deeply integrate into the regional power industry ecology through product output and technology exchange, and contribute to the promotion of power infrastructure construction and energy cooperation in Southeast Asia. Faced with the rapid development of cross-border trade between China and ASEAN, Beijing Zhishu Sansheng Information Technology Co., Ltd. has launched an intelligent agent application solution for the cross-border trade industry, which can achieve integrated management of business and finance, multilingual contract parsing, multi role intelligent agent collaboration, global enterprise risk control and credit protection, and other functions. The CEO of the company, Liu Liang, expressed his expectation to establish in-depth cooperation with global governments and enterprises through the international platform of the East Expo, and jointly build a new ecosystem for enterprise operation in the era of intelligence, so that technology can truly empower life and create a better future. (New Society)