A team of over 40 people set off on Monday from Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for Vietnam, lifting the curtain of a "China-ASEAN friendship trip."

 

Scheduled for over three weeks, the 10,000-kilometer trip would cover Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Most of the team members are Chinese entrepreneurs or journalists, who are expected to make cultural exchanges, business talks and donations in the six ASEAN countries.

 

"This trip comes as a symbol of friendship between Chinese and the ASEAN people," said Kosit Chatpaiboon, Consul-General of the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Kunming. He hopes that it could help boost China-ASEAN cooperation in tourism and exchange among the common people from the two sides.

 

Vice Chairman of the China-ASEAN Association Shi Guangsheng noted that the trip would help convey the amity of Chinese people to their ASEAN counterparts. "Through concerted efforts of governments and common people, the strategic partnership between China and ASEAN oriented to peace and prosperity is bound to be cemented," he said.

 

Shortly after the start of the China-ASEAN friendship trip, the Commemorative Summit marking the 15th Anniversary of the Dialogue Relations between China ASEAN opened in Nanning, a sign that bilateral ties of China and ASEAN have moved onto a fast track.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2006)