Gathering at the CAEXPO and Sharing Business Opportunities With the Special Partner Country

Chen Libing　Mo Tingting

Poland has confirmed it will attend the 16th China-ASEAN Expo （CAEXPO） to be held on September 20-23， 2019 as a special partner when the preparations for the 16th CAEXPO are in full swing， which will be the first time a European country participates in the annual gathering hosted by China and ASEAN countries， marking that CAEXPO has played an increasingly important role in serving the Belt and Road construction and expanding international cooperation.

The CAEXPO Special Partner Country is an innovative mechanism open to the world based on “10+1” cooperation between China and ASEAN. The CAEXPO launched the Special Partner Country mechanism in 2014. Australia， South Korea， Sri Lanka， Kazakhstan and Tanzania was the previous CAEXPO Special Partner Country， respectively. Over the past five years， based on this mechanism， the CAEXPO has expanded the cooperation region to the countries along the Belt and Road， helping connect the countries along the Belt and Road.

Innovative mechanism being expanded

As an international economic and trade exchange event open to the world， CAEXPO acts as not only a platform for cooperation of enterprises between China and ASEAN， but also a bridge for cooperation between China and ASEAN as a whole and other economies in the world. Before the launch of the Special Partner Country mechanism， the co-organizers from ASEAN have repeatedly expressed the hope of inviting more enterprises outside the region to participate in the CAEXPO and integrate into the global economic cooperation. In particular， in 2013， after the launch of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership （RCEP） by ASEAN countries and 6 partners — Australia， China， India， Japan， South Korea and New Zealand， the economic and trade relations between China and ASEAN and relevant countries became even closer.

The year 2014 marked the opening year of the “Diamond Decade” and co-building “the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road” between China and ASEAN. After being listed as the “national first-class exhibition”， CAEXPO has gained support from WTO and the United Nations International Trade Center （ITC）.

With the participation of WTO and ITC， CAEXPO has accelerated the transformation process of from regionalization to globalization trade integration. In order to attract more key countries outside the region to actively participate in the fair， in the same year， the Special Guest Country mechanism was launched since the 11th CAEXPO. According to the application and preparation situation of relevant countries， the CAEXPO secretariat will invite RCEP member countries other than China and ASEAN as the Special Guest Country on behalf of the co-organizers of the CAEXPO. During the event， high-level business officials of Special Guest Country will be invited to lead a business delegation， and relevant economic and trade promotion activities will be arranged， so as to promote exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and ASEAN business communities and regions outside the region， boost the expansion of from “10+1” to “10+6”， and further improve its economic and trade efficiency.

Since 2014， Australia， South Korea， Sri Lanka as the previous Special Guest Country have showed their development and business opportunities in all aspects， and promoted the trade， investment， agriculture， industry， education， tourism， mining， environmental protection， science and technology exchanges and cooperation between China-ASEAN and countries outside the region， with remarkable results.

Along with the smooth advancement of the Belt and Road， since 2017， the CAEXPO has upgraded the Special Guest Country mechanism to the Special Partner Country mechanism， and invited countries along the silk road economic belt such as Kazakhstan， Tanzania and Poland as Special Partner Country successively， marking that CAEXPO， with service area expanded from “10+6” to countries along the Belt and Road， has become an important link for China， ASEAN and other economies outside the region to strengthen cooperation and integrate into the global value chain.

Practical cooperation yielding abundant achievements

During the 15th CAEXPO， Tanzania attracted many visitors and businessmen with its rich African exhibits. In fact， in the past five years， under the Special Partner Country mechanism， more and more countries and regions along the Belt and Road have enjoyed the dividends brought by the mutually beneficial cooperation.

In 2014， Australian Ambassador to ASEAN led a delegation to attend the CAEXPO， the corresponding Australia National Promotion Meeting， and the activities on RCEP， effectively promoted the multi-channel and deeper cooperation in the field of economic and trade between China and RCEP countries. In 2017， as the 14th CAEXPO Special Partner Country， Kazakhstan held a series of activities such as the national meeting， China-Kazakhstan Regional Cooperation Forum and commodity exhibition. In 2018， as the 15th CAEXPO Special Partner Country， Tanzania also held the national promotion meeting， and displayed different African flavors and business opportunities through a series of activities.

According to statistics， the 15th CAEXPO has attracted 114 enterprises from 19 countries outside the region such as Tanzania， Sri Lanka， Pakistan， Germany and Italy， promoted exchanges and cooperation between China and ASEAN with other countries along the Belt and Road， created a broad market beyond the 11 countries and huge business opportunities， and received positive feedback from many national leaders and senior officials.

“It is a great honor for Tanzania to participate in the CAEXPO on behalf of African countries for the first time， which gives us an opportunity to deepen cooperation with enterprises from China， ASEAN and countries along the Belt and Road in such fields as trade， investment and tourism， and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results，” said Tanzania's Minister for Trade and Industries Amina Salum Ali.

New partner and new opportunities

The wider China opens its door to the outside world， the more countries along the Belt and Road have actively made cooperation and share business opportunities with China. In order to keep up with the new trend of the times and better serve the construction of the Belt and Road， the 16th CAEXPO also invited Poland， a European country， as the Special Partner Country for the first time.

According to CAEXPO Secretariat， Tadeusz Koscinski， Economic Development Minister of Poland on behalf of the Polish government confirmed that Poland will attend the 16th CAEXPO as a special partner. And he will lead the Polish delegation at the CAEXPO. At that time， the head of the Polish delegation will make the opening speech at the 16th CAEXPO， and Poland will display its national image， comparative products and key industries， and promote economic and trade exchanges and cooperation through a series of activities such as the national promotion meeting.

Poland is the first country in central and eastern Europe to establish strategic partnership with China， as well as the only central and eastern European country to join the AIIB as a founding member， and China-Poland cooperation is a model of China-central and eastern Europe cooperation. Poland is China's 9th largest trading partner in the European Union and the largest trading partner in central and eastern Europe. China has become Poland's second largest source of imports. Both of the two countries have great potential for the development of machine， IT products， finance and new energy.

Meanwhile， as a major economy in central and eastern Europe， Poland is in an important position to connect the west and the east， and China-Poland land transport is an important part of the Belt and Road. Poland's attendance at the CAEXPO is expected to provide more convenient access for China and ASEAN countries to the central and eastern European markets， being of positive significance to further deepening the cooperation between Poland and China and even ASEAN countries. At that time， all countries will share business opportunities at the CAEXPO， and audiences from all over the world can also enjoy the unique charm of Poland.