Trade volume between China and ASEAN up 23%<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Nanning, Guangxi, China<\/p>\n
The China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat invited The Jakarta Post's
\nHarry Bhaskara to attend the second expo and the second China-
\nASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning, Guangxi, from
\nOct. 19 to Oct. 22. The following is a report on his visit.<\/p>\n
While ASEAN and China are busy working on eliminating tariffs on
\nsome 4,000 of the approximately 5,000 types of goods and
\ncommodities traded between them by 2010, but that particular
\nmorning raincoats turned out to be the most coveted commodity.<\/p>\n
Organizers of the second China-ASEAN Expo made a last ditch
\neffort to hold the outdoor opening ceremony on time but the rain
\nforced them to delay it for two hours. After the rain stopped,
\nthe participants streamed to the 3,000-odd seats and each of them
\nfound a plastic raincoat on their seats, just in case the rain
\nwould start again.<\/p>\n
At 11:15 a.m. on Oct. 19, the ceremony was kicked off by
\nChinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong. What a feat, more than
\n3,000 raincoats readied in two hours.<\/p>\n
\"We had prepared ourselves for unexpected eventualities,
\nincluding the worst-case scenario, that is, if the rain
\npersisted,\" a beaming Li Jinzao, deputy chairman of the
\norganizing committee, told journalists over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Clearly, the pressure of hosting the four-day expo with nearly
\n2,000 exhibitors in 3,293 booths on a six-hectare site, was now
\noff. \"We were ready to send out 10,000 umbrellas if need be at
\nthe time,\" says Li, who is also the deputy governor of the
\nautonomous region of Guanxi.<\/p>\n
Nanning residents say the city had not seen any rain for the
\npast one month before the event.<\/p>\n
The opening ceremony was held at the permanent site of the
\nexpo. The elegant high-rise white flower building featured
\nprominently in the background. But the brief opening ceremony
\nunderstated the scale of the expo.<\/p>\n
The volume of trade between China and the ASEAN countries
\nstood at US$105.9 billion in 2004, an increase of 38.9 percent
\nover 2003, according to official statistics. In the first nine
\nmonths of this year, the trade volume reached $94.54 billion,
\n25.3 percent up from same period last year. The ten-member
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations is China's fourth largest
\ntrading partner.<\/p>\n
China is determined to set up a free trade area with ASEAN by
\n2010, with trade expected to be a whopping $200 billion by that
\ntime -- a target set by Chinese President Hu Jintao during his
\nvisit to the ASEAN countries in April.<\/p>\n
The question is whether or not this optimistic target is
\nattainable.<\/p>\n
In his opening remarks, ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong,
\nsaid that the free trade zone ASEAN and China were seeking to
\ncreate represented a market of 1.85 billion consumers and a
\ncombined GDP of almost $2.5 trillion.<\/p>\n
The FTA is expected to enable ASEAN's exports to China to grow
\nby 48 percent and China's exports to ASEAN to grow by 55 percent.
\nThis would contribute 0.9 percent and 0.3 percent of the GDP of
\nASEAN and China respectively.<\/p>\n
On Oct. 18, the China-ASEAN Business Council signed a
\ndeclaration at the fourth CABC meeting to facilitate closer and
\nstronger partnerships between enterprises in the region. Commerce
\nand industry chambers from China and each of the ASEAN countries
\nwill arrange for domestic business chambers, entrepreneurs,
\nscholars and specialists to take part in the annual meetings of
\nthe CABC.<\/p>\n
Topping the list on its agenda this year was the council's
\nresolution to encourage small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in
\nthe CAEXPO.<\/p>\n
The CABC was formed by the China Council for the Promotion of
\nInternational Trade and the ASEAN Commerce and Industry Chamber
\nin 2001 in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Hours after the opening of the expo, the second China-ASEAN
\nBusiness and Investment Summit (CABIS) was convened separately at
\nthe Liyuan hotel in a suburb of Nanning. Both the CAEXPO and CABIS
\nwere jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of China, its
\nASEAN counterparts and the ASEAN Secretariat.<\/p>\n
At CABIS, government and business leaders discussed the
\nopportunities and challenges facing their respective countries.<\/p>\n
Whether or not China and the ASEAN countries will meet the
\ntarget they have set themselves is open to question. But
\naccording to Chinese traditional beliefs, rain is a good omen.<\/p>",
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