The third annual China-ASEAN Expo ended in Nanning, capital of
south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Friday
with a trade volume totaling US$1.27 billion, up 10.2 percent from
last year, according to the Expo's organizing committee.
With the exports of US$1.03 billion, imports of US$75 million
and the domestic trade of US$167 million, this year's Expo enjoyed
brisk trade growth, announced Li Jinzao, deputy director of the
organizing committee at a press conference.
Trade in mechanical equipment stood at US$635 million,
accounting for half of the total, followed by electronic products,
agricultural products and farming materials, he said.
Traded goods at the Expo has shifted from agricultural products
like fruits and vegetables in 2004 to industrial products this
year, said Zhang Xiaoqin, an official with the Secretariat of the
Expo.
The growing trade of mechanical and high-tech products at the
Expo demonstrates changes in the two-way trade between China and
ASEAN countries, said Zhang.
More than 130 contracts on international projects, including
investments of US$5.85 billion, were signed at the Expo, a
10.5-percent growth as compared with last year.
The total contractual investments included US$2.56 billion by
Chinese investors to projects in ASEAN countries.
(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2006)
