A view of the Tuo Le Forum between China and ASEAN. (Photo: VNA)Beijing (VNA) – A forum was held in Pan Zhou city in the Chinese province of Gui Zhou on November 9 and 10 to discuss opportunities for trade and investment cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The annual forum brought together over 300 participants, including ambassadors, envoys, minister counsellors, and commercial and cultural counsellors from ASEAN member states, and Chinese provincial officials and business leaders.
Addressing the function, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Liupanshui city Wei Xiong Jun said the event would open a new chapter in China – ASEAN production capacity collaboration, particularly in energy, industry, agriculture and tourism.
Minister Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in China Nguyen Dac Thanh briefed the participants on growing trade and investment ties between Vietnam and China.
In 2016, bilateral trade hit 98 billion USD, making Vietnam the biggest trade partner of China in ASEAN. China’s official statistics showed that the figure hit 82.4 billion USD in the first nine months of 2017, an increase of 20.6 percent from the same period last year. The two-way trade value is expected to exceed 100 billion USD by the year-end.
By the end of September 2017, China ranked 8th among foreign investors in Vietnam, with 1,747 valid projects worth 11.9 billion USD. In the first nine months of 2017, China invested in 195 projects with a combined registered capital of 1.73 billion USD.
The two governments are working closely together to implement a series of agreements and commitments, including an agreement on extending the 5-year planning of Vietnam-China economic and investment cooperation, and a memorandum of understanding on bilateral trade of farm produce.-VNA
VNA
