Malaysian businesses seize opportunities via CAEXPO

The 4th Malaysia-China B2B Business Matching Session in conjunction with the 19th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) took place virtually and physically from Sept.13 to Sept.15, with major venues designated in Chinese city Nanning and Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz, CEO of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation said Malaysia serves as the country of honor this year for more bilateral exchanges that involve governments, business associations and enterprises. Cooperation in trade, investment, digital economy and others will be deepened under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

"Although the pandemic is not over yet, Malaysian entrepreneurs are eager to participate in this year's China-ASEAN Expo," said Mustafa. They hoped to find partners and business opportunities in food trade, health, cultural tourism, digital economy and other fields.

Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing said that in recent years, the relationship between China and Malaysia has achieved leap-forward development, especially in industrial parks, infrastructure and equipment manufacturing.

Since the China-ASEAN Expo was held, the Malaysian specialties have been welcomed by Chinese consumers. “China will work with Malaysia for joint construction of the Belt and Road, expanding cooperation in AI, big data and modern agriculture," Ouyang said.

Lin Wanfeng, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia, said that the regional economic integration would be further accelerated under the RCEP, and Malaysian enterprises would gain more development opportunities.

Lin hoped more merchants could expand the market for featured commodities and services through the China-ASEAN Expo.

More than 300 "one-to-one" talks were arranged in the B2B Business Matching Session, involving food, medical, building materials, machinery, and others.

The China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) is an international economic and trade event jointly confirmed by the leaders of China and ASEAN. It was proposed by the Chinese side at the 7th ASEAN-China Summit in October 2003 that the CAEXPO be annually held in Nanning, Guangxi, China from the year 2004 onwards. The proposal gained positive feedback from the heads of state/government of the 10 ASEAN countries, and was written into the Chairman's Statement released afterwards.

Reporting by Mu Shengyu; Xu Qian (People’s Daily Online); Translating by Guo Yao