Environmental protection has become a priority in the cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the two economic bodies are seeing closer ties with the first environmental protection forum held during the China-ASEAN Expo on Oct. 22.

At the ASEAN-China Environmental Cooperation Forum 2011, Li Ganjie, vice minister of China's Ministry of Environmental Protection, said China and ASEAN member countries have many common challenges in economic and environmental development, and the two sides have always been focusing on sustainable development through dialogues and cooperation.

The forum, held in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, took on the theme of "Innovation for Green Development." The event aimed to provide a platform for China and ASEAN to promote understanding and cooperation in order to realize sustainable development.

The two sides also launched the China-ASEAN Green Envoys Program at the forum, a campaign aimed at raising environmental awareness and deepening environmental cooperation with exchange of personnel and improvement in skills and technology.

"As our economies continue to integrate and expand, we must not allow them to do so in a way that will consign future generations to wealth without the wonders of the natural world," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said at the opening ceremony of the 8th China-ASEAN Expo that began on Oct. 21.

During the 11th ASEAN-China Summit in 2007, participants agreed to add environmental protection to the list of priority areas for cooperation.

In 2009, the China-ASEAN Strategy on Environmental Protection Cooperation 2009-2015 went into effect, paving the way for the establishment of the China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Center in 2010.