By David Ferguson
China.org.cn staff reporter in Nanning

In the face of a stormy economic outlook, the ten ASEAN countries and China have combined in an attempt to make the 5th China- ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) the biggest and best yet.

10 + 1 is greater than 11.

The first thing that strikes about the event is the impressive setting of Nanning's exhibition centre. On the outskirts of the city, it is set into a hillside, with three floors at the front backing into two, and then one upper floor to the rear. The result is that you do not realize quite how big it is until you are inside. The theme of CAEXPO: "10 + 1 > 11" is picked out in a design of flowering shrubs on the hill beside the centre that is neon-lit in the evening to carry the message right across the city.

The entrance is a huge circular building rising through all three floors and capped with a soaring fluted roof. Outside, in front of the building, are the vehicle stands. Heavy construction equipment is on display that is the biggest stuff you will see outside of an open-cast mine.

Inside, there is a fascinating combination of traditional and modern, country and company, large and small scale, and high tech and craft. Each of the ten ASEAN countries has its own dedicated stand area on the second floor, offering an introduction to the best that the country has to offer. On the third floor each country again has its own individual section, this time populated with the individual exhibitors who have come to the fair.

Alongside these are the host country's own stands and exhibitions covering a range of business sectors – high-tech, agricultural, engineering, construction, IT, and telecommunications, to name but half a dozen. Other Asian countries and regions – Japan, Hong Kong, and Macao, for example – are also present, and exhibitors have traveled from further afield, for example from Mexico and from France.

The ASEAN countries have spared no effort to entertain and to inform on their stands. Beauty and music are a regular theme – temple dancers from Cambodia and Myanmar attracting enthusiastic crowds of spectators and photographers – and each one is an invitation to solicit information and do business.

The individual exhibitors are a fascinating mix, from the simplest to the sublime. Bentley and Harry's Trinket Stall, selling jewelry imported from The Philippines, is doing great business, while Shanghai's Zhongrong Group has a truly spectacular exhibition of current and planned architectural projects in Cambodia.

Cambodia, indeed, as 'Honour Country' for this year's expo, deserves particular credit for its efforts, at the level of both national and individual exhibitors. Their country stand is elaborate and impressive, and is probably attracting more visitors that any of the other individual nations. Among their exhibitors are not only the Zhongrong Group, but also a striking scale-model of Sihanoukville Special Economy Zone, interspersed with traditional onyx and wood-carved handcrafts.

Small trading commodities are particularly numerous and popular – jewelry, clothing, ornaments, and foodstuffs. Their stands are crowded with buyers. At the other end of the scale the Guilin Xingying Technology Company is exhibiting a high-tech surveillance and photographic aircraft drone capable of operating at altitudes of 4000 meters and flights of up to forty minutes.

The French visitors are from Isere, in the south-west of France. Their coordinator, Didier Gerin, of the Chamber of Commerce of Vienne La Tour Du Pin, explains that the area has been building a relationship with Guangxi for three years, first through courtesy visits, then through partnership agreements, and that this is the first trade mission resulting from the links. The exhibitors include a producer of artworks, an engineering company, and Cheurlin-Dangin, one of France's illustrious champagne houses.

Wood is a popular product in the Building Materials section. A number of exhibitors are showing wood-veneer peeling machinery and equipment – a fascinating sight for those who are unfamiliar with the process. Stone and ceramics are also widely exhibited. Sophy Dong, Export Manager for the RunCheng building materials company, is on her first visit to the CAEXPO. She is showing a variety of natural grey stones that are mined in the Guangxi area and have proved popular both at home in China and abroad.

The Malaysian exhibition is worthy of mention, with the Proton car and up-market contemporary designer jewelry in silver. Vietnam probably wins the award for the most unusual exhibitor – a stand campaigning for the nomination of the breathtakingly beautiful Ha Long Bay in the north of the country as one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

Four days is not too long for the CAEXPO. There is plenty to keep a visitor interested for that time and more. The above is but a fraction of what is on offer, and the organizers can be well-satisfied that the Expo is doing its job of promoting the current strengths and the future potential of the relationship between the ASEAN nations and China.

(China.org.cn October 24, 2008)