Photo taken on Sept. 5, 2021 shows the view of rainbow in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo: Xinhua)

A high-profile expo promoting trade and economic cooperation between China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is scheduled to kick off on Friday, attracting hundreds of business from around the world as economic cooperation and recovery from the COVID-19 in the region continues to accelerate. 

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan will attend the opening ceremony of the 18th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian announced on Thursday. 

Leaders and officials from Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and Pakistan will give virtual speeches at the opening ceremony. At least 397 foreign companies will exhibit at the expo, filling 905 booths, an increase of 13.4 percent compared with 2020 levels.

During the annual gathering, government officials and business leaders will exchange views and seek cooperation on trade, investment, cross-border financial services, technology innovation and the digital economy. 

Chinese companies from the electronics, agriculture, engineering, food packaging and equipment sectors, including telecom giant Huawei and biotech giant BGI, will attend the expo. 

ASEAN firms in the aviation, shipping, coffee, footwear and agriculture sectors will display their services and products. 

In addition, at a special zone for the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), companies from 30 countries and regions including Pakistan, Poland, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Russia and France are expected to attract visitors. 

Following the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), business opportunities under the world's largest trade pact have attracted even more global interest.

A blue paper outlining business opportunities under the RCEP will be released at the event, aiming to attract investment in the post-COVID era. 

ASEAN, as China's largest trading partner, saw its trade with China expand to $553.9 billion from January to August, up 33.3 percent year-on-year and accounting for 14.5 percent of China's total foreign trade, latest customs data revealed.

China's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, on September 2 issued a document vowing to finish building the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor by 2025, a logistics channel that would facilitate China's trade with ASEAN as well as countries and regions along the BRI.