The 23rd China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (referred to as the "ASEAN Expo") recently concluded successfully. This year's China-ASEAN Expo is particularly crowded with "newcomers": 11 countries gathered in Nanning for the first time after the expansion of ASEAN, and Timor-Leste made its first appearance as a co-organizer; the future space and science and technology innovation growth exhibition area was set up for the first time, and the first new products were unveiled; a group of small and medium-sized businesses participating in the exhibition for the first time brought their own products and expectations to meet the China-ASEAN market.
After more than 20 years of experience, why has the China-ASEAN Expo continued to unleash its appeal? A group of new faces at this year's China-ASEAN Expo shared with our reporter the gravity of China-ASEAN cooperation they feel.
New members, new partners——
“The Chinese market is very vast”
"Timor-Leste joined ASEAN as a full member last year and became the 11th member of ASEAN. This is a milestone for our country." Arias de Jesus Fatima, Director-General of the Trade Department of the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Timor-Leste, said. This China-ASEAN Expo is Timor-Leste’s first appearance as a member of ASEAN and as a co-organizer.
"Timor-Leste has a young population structure, fisheries, coffee, natural tourism resources, emerging enterprises, etc., and hopes to contribute to a more connected and inclusive regional economy." Fatima mentioned that China is an important partner of Timor-Leste, and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area Upgrade Protocol Version 3.0 (referred to as "Free Trade Area Version 3.0") has created a broader cooperation framework for China-ASEAN economic cooperation. "For Timor-Leste, the hope is to turn this regional framework into real economic opportunities."
"This is the first time that my country and I have participated in the China-ASEAN Expo. I see that the Chinese market is very broad." said Baptista, founder of AVO SIAK, a coffee company in Timor-Leste. He said that this expo has established an efficient platform for matching supply and demand. This time he brought high-quality coffee from East Timor, hoping to use this platform to connect with buyers from China and ASEAN. "After returning to China, I will work hard to increase the production of coffee and other agricultural products and improve supply capabilities. I look forward to bringing more Timor-Leste specialty products to China and ASEAN in the future and deepening cooperation." He said.
This China-ASEAN Expo also set up an ASEAN countries demand exhibition for the first time and released an ASEAN demand list for the first time to focus on displaying the technology and application needs of ASEAN countries and create a new one-stop platform for precise docking between China and ASEAN. In the exhibition area, ASEAN countries’ investment policy promotion, demand project introduction and other information are all available. Project owners from ASEAN countries and Chinese enterprises and scientific research institutions will go to the site for promotion and docking.
The "Export to China" special event in Thailand, which was also established for the first time, was also very popular. Thailand showed up with a strong lineup of more than 100 companies. Many Chinese and Thai companies reached preliminary cooperation intentions and signed purchase intention agreements on site. Yang Kaiser, deputy secretary-general of the China-Thailand Chamber of Commerce, said that the Chinese market is not only exclusive to large enterprises, but also open to small and medium-sized enterprises in Thailand that have high-quality, differentiated products and services that are adapted to the Chinese market.
New orders, new expectations——
"Linking China and ASEAN big markets"
View exhibits and discuss cooperation. This year, more companies have reached cooperation at the China-ASEAN Expo. The exhibition has become the starting point for small and medium-sized enterprises to enter the China-ASEAN market and connect with the opportunities of the Free Trade Zone 3.0.
ASEAN Secretary-General Gao Jinhong pointed out that it is necessary to ensure that small, medium and micro enterprises see tangible benefits from the free trade zone version 3.0, helping them improve their capabilities, knowledge and digital skills, and more effectively participate in the regional supply chain.
Su Qianqian and An Fengkun of Guangxi Guiweilian Food Co., Ltd. participated in the China-ASEAN Expo for the first time this year. They arrived at the booth at 9 am until 5 pm and were busy connecting with merchants and visitors. "Participating in this CAEXPO has allowed me to see Guangxi's huge potential for Southeast Asia and other overseas markets. I look forward to using this platform to let our products reach more overseas consumers." An Fengkun said. Su Qianqian also looks forward to exploring more cooperation opportunities with ASEAN countries in food export business through the China-ASEAN Expo platform.
“We have brought an official government document verification platform and investment assistance tools, hoping to promote them through this expo and link the large markets of China and ASEAN.” said Dibo Panha, an exhibitor representative of the Cambodian Digital Government Committee who came to the China-ASEAN Expo for the first time. He introduced to reporters on the spot the digital products exhibited at the expo. Companies can scan the QR code with one click to verify the authenticity of Cambodian documents, while helping investors understand local business opportunities. "We have cooperated with East Timor, Singapore, Laos, Bangladesh and other countries. Many local people can communicate in Chinese and communication is very convenient. We welcome more Chinese companies to invest in Cambodia."
Siriporn Buapum, a Thai peanut chip merchant who participated in the exhibition for the first time, came to the CAEXPO with her family recipe and stood at the CAEXPO booth for the first time. She said that the atmosphere at the scene made her feel warm and proud. In 2010, Siriporn's parents founded the brand in eastern Thailand. Its main product is Thai traditional peanut crisps. Before participating in this exhibition, she made improvements to her products: traditional Thai snacks are often quite large, and she changed the large-sized peanut crisps into small-sized packaging to fit the "eat on the go" eating scene of Chinese consumers.
"We hope to use our products to establish contact with the Chinese public, so that Chinese consumers can get to know our family and the taste of Thailand through this snack," she said.
New industry, new track——
"Bringing common prosperity to ASEAN and China"
During this China-ASEAN Expo, the "2026 Exchange Event for ASEAN AI Empowering the Silver Economy High-Quality Development" was packed with people. Among the audience were scholars studying the elderly care industry, business representatives who are concerned about the health and care industry, and guests from many ASEAN countries.
Chen Yongzhi, executive chairman of the Indonesia-China Economic and Social Cooperation Association, said that population aging has become a trend in Asia and even the world. Using artificial intelligence (AI) to empower the silver economy has broad prospects for cooperation between China and ASEAN. "China has accumulated rich experience in the fields of AI, smart homes, smart devices, etc., while Indonesia and ASEAN have huge markets, and the two sides have complementary advantages." Chen Yongzhi believes that the silver economy should not only be regarded as a problem of elderly care, but also use AI to allow the elderly to live longer, healthier, independent, and meaningful lives; AI-enabled silver economic cooperation cannot just transfer technology, but also combine local language, culture, family structure, and medical systems to create localized solutions.
"This is the first time that the silver economy appears as a theme event at the China-ASEAN Expo." Fan Zhou, president of the Beijing Jinghe Culture and Tourism Development Research Institute and an expert member of the National Committee on Aging, told this reporter that he and his team conducted several months of research before the China-ASEAN Expo to sort out the development of the silver economy in ASEAN countries and China, and will continue to promote the preparation of a number of silver economy industry standards.
In addition to the silver economy, many emerging areas of cooperation have their first exhibitions at this China-ASEAN Expo.
In the financial exhibition area, the first centralized display of "AI + finance" and financial technology overseas content attracted many visitors. Intelligent risk control, bill identification, future payment and other scenarios can be felt in action, and the audience can feel the openness and vitality in the immersive experience; in the first-ever future space and science and technology enterprise growth empowerment exhibition area, a number of industry high-tech products and first-release new products were unveiled, and representative companies in the fields of commercial aerospace and marine economy brought cutting-edge technology products.
The exhibition hall looks at the cutting-edge, and the community looks at the implementation. The newly built South A Community of this China-ASEAN Expo is also a popular check-in point for exhibitors and visitors. More than 130 artificial intelligence companies have made a concentrated appearance, and a number of AI application cases have come into reality from the booth. Many exhibitors received orders and cooperation intentions during the exhibition.
"ASEAN and China should make full use of the new areas of cooperation in the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 to cultivate new growth momentum in digitalization, artificial intelligence, green industries and renewable energy." Gao Jinhong pointed out that as cooperation between ASEAN and China continues to deepen, the China-ASEAN Expo will continue to play a key role in transforming the opportunities created by the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 into stronger business partnerships, broader participation and new sources of growth, bringing common prosperity to ASEAN and China.
