The six highlights of the 22nd East Asian Expo reveal new paths for cooperation between China and ASEAN

Nanning, September 17 (Xinhua) -- Six highlights of the 22nd East Asian Expo reveal new paths for cooperation between China and ASEAN
Reporter Jiang Xuelin and Yang from China News Service
The 22nd China ASEAN Expo (referred to as the East Expo) opened in Nanning on the 17th. This year's East Expo focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) and has set up an AI pavilion with a scale of 10000 square meters for the first time, gathering nearly 200 high-tech enterprises and teams, showcasing six core highlights, revealing that China ASEAN cooperation is moving towards digital integration and institutional co construction.
Highlight 1: First Ministerial Forum on Artificial Intelligence Held
For the first time, the China ASEAN Artificial Intelligence Ministerial Forum was held at this year's East China Expo. The top executives of artificial intelligence regulatory departments from China and the ten ASEAN countries gathered in Nanning to discuss cutting-edge issues such as AI governance, ethics, and standards. The forum is committed to collaborating on the formulation of regional digital rules, responding to the strong digital development needs of ASEAN countries, and promoting the establishment of a normalized high-level dialogue mechanism. The artificial intelligence application ecosystem proposed by Guangxi, which includes research and development in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, integration in Guangxi, and application in ASEAN, will promote the landing of AI technology in ASEAN.
Highlight 2: The East China Expo empowers the construction of the Free Trade Zone 3.0 version
The negotiations for the China ASEAN Free Trade Area version 3.0 have been fully completed, and it is expected to sign an upgrade protocol in October this year. This agreement is the first to systematically build a full chain cooperation framework for the "hard connectivity" of digital infrastructure and the "soft connectivity" of rules and standards. This year's East Expo will release relevant blue books, set up a special chapter to interpret business opportunities in version 3.0, hold China ASEAN economic and trade cooperation dialogue activities during the conference, focus on new opportunities in the free trade zone, guide enterprises to strengthen docking and cooperation around key areas such as digital economy and green economy covered in version 3.0, and provide enterprises with an opportunity to seize business opportunities in advance.
Highlight 3: AI Pavilion Gathers Multinational Innovation Forces
Chinese technology companies such as Huawei, Alibaba Cloud, Qiangxin, and iFlytek will debut at the AI Pavilion of this year's East Expo, showcasing innovative products such as HarmonyOS foldable computers, Tongyi large models, quadruped and humanoid robots, AR glasses, etc; ASEAN actively responded to the theme of AI, and for the first time, institutions from multiple countries such as Malaysia's Ministry of Science and Technology Innovation, Indonesia's Remote Information Processing Association, and Brunei Innovation Laboratory participated in the exhibition, showcasing achievements including intelligent healthcare, green energy AI applications, and "Digital Economy 4.0", presenting a rich picture of cross-border technological cooperation.
Highlight 4: "AI exhibition intelligent agents" enhance the exhibition experience
This year's East Expo has launched the first "AI exhibition intelligent agent" in China that fully supports 8 languages of ASEAN countries, achieving 17 types of functions such as intelligent customer service, business opportunity matching, and conference scheduling, significantly improving exhibition efficiency and exhibition experience. At the opening ceremony, AI elements ran through the entire process: AI robots welcomed and interacted with guests, and Chen Gang, Secretary of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China, delivered a "blank" speech wearing smart glasses, relying on real-time display technology to speak smoothly; In the concluding segment, the AI digital person took the stage to interact with Wei Tao, the Chairman of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, quickly generating opening ceremony buzzwords, summaries, and other content, highlighting the innovative practice of "technology empowering exhibitions".
Highlight 5: ASEAN exhibits highlight industrial upgrading
At this year's East Asian Expo, the ASEAN exhibition area not only featured previous "star products" such as Cambodian rice, cat poop coffee, and cat mountain king durian, but also more and more technological elements emerged. Malaysia has invited a group of high-tech companies to showcase cutting-edge technologies and solutions covering areas such as satellite communication, green energy development, and AI scenario applications. Seven ASEAN countries participated in the exhibition, with about 30% showcasing new enterprises or products, reflecting the trend of regional industrial upgrading and diversification.
Highlight 6: Lunar Samples and Major Heavy Weapons Debut
The lunar soil samples collected by Chang'e-5 will be publicly unveiled for the first time at the East Expo, and its related research has discovered a new lunar mineral called "Chang'e stone". At the same time, the icebreaker "Xuelong 2" and the deep-sea submersible model "Jiaolong" will also be exhibited, showcasing China's latest progress in polar and deep-sea scientific research. These achievements are expected to expand scientific research cooperation between China and ASEAN in areas such as polar regions, deep sea, and climate change.
After 22 years of development, the East Expo has risen from its initial platform for goods trade to an important hub for digital cooperation and institutional cooperation between China and ASEAN. Through the East Expo, both sides are actively building a new pattern of digital sharing, technological collaboration, and deep integration of industrial chains, injecting stability and new momentum into regional and even global development. (End)