The two-day China-ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Economic and Trade Cooperation Fair concluded on Sept 22 in Zhaoqing, South China's Guangdong Province.

Themed on innovative growth and common development, the event was hosted by China International Youth Exchange Center (CIYEC), ASEAN-China Centre, China-ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Association, ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council, Guangdong Youth Federation and Zhaoqing Municipal People’s Government.

Noting that the CIYEC attaches great importance to youth communication and cooperation with ASEAN countries, Zhang Hua, Director of the CIYEC, said that the CIYEC has strengthened the building of the Secretariat of the China-ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Association, improved cooperation and consultation mechanism, and established platforms for deepening pragmatic cooperation.

Zhang expressed his hope that China-ASEAN youth entrepreneurs will maintain their original aspiration for unity and self-independence, grasp the opportunity for transformation, and foster momentum for innovative development.

He added that China-ASEAN youth entrepreneurs should actively promote strategic synergy and join hands to promote regional economic growth, so as to inject more youth energy into the building of a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.

Sun Yi, Director of General Affairs and Coordinator Division at ASEAN-China Centre, said that China and ASEAN, connected by rivers and mountains, are good neighbors, good friends and good partners with a shared destiny.

Noting that benefits of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP) is being delivered and the building of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area is making steady progress, with cooperation between the two sides entering a new stage, Sun said that young entrepreneurs shoulder the responsibility and mission to promote economic recovery and maintain economic stability. He expressed the hope to continue deepening cooperation with the CIYEC in building a platform for China-ASEAN youth cooperation, to make unremitting effort for the sound and stable development of China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership.

Ben Perkasa Drajat, Indonesian Consul General in Guangzhou, said that China is an important strategic partner of ASEAN, and Indonesia, as the biggest economy of ASEAN, is seeing a sound development in its relations with China. The Indonesia-proposed Global Maritime Fulcrum initiative is closely aligned with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and cooperation between the two countries has been continuously enhanced, he said. He expressed his hope to further deepen cooperation with China in creating favorable business and investment environment for the two countries’ young entrepreneurs, so as to promote high-quality development of economic and trade cooperation.

Zhang Aijun, Party Secretary of Zhaoqing, said that the city will take this fair as an opportunity to comprehensively strengthen communication and cooperation with ASEAN countries, and create more development opportunities for young entrepreneurs. He said he expects that young entrepreneurs from all countries will strengthen cooperation and communication with their counterparts in Zhaoqing, deepen cooperation in areas such as new energy, electronic information and modern agriculture, share development dividend and promote the prosperity and development of the regional economy.

Participants of the event, including Bagas Adhadirgha, Chair of ASEAN Young Entrepreneur Association & HIPMI Board of Advisor Member; Deborah Melissa Botterau, Secretary General of ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council & President of Malaysian Young Entrepreneurs ASEAN Association and Rommel Gerodias, Chairman Emeritus of Philippine Young Entrepreneurs Associations, delivered keynote speeches centered on such topics as new opportunities for economic and trade cooperation, new momentum for industrial cooperation, and cooperation mechanism building, and held discussions on hotspot topics.

They agreed that the fair comes at the right time, as momentum for global economic recovery is unstable and global trade and investment is weak, and every country faces huge pressure for economic growth.

Noting that China and ASEAN are highly complementary in industrial development and have huge potential for cooperation, they said they are willing to make contribution to the development of China-ASEAN economic and trade relations under relevant mechanisms and platforms.  

A promotional event for trade and economic cooperation projects, thematic dialogues, specialty industry visits as well as business negotiations were held on the sidelines of the event. Participating young entrepreneurs also held in-depth exchanges in such areas as new energy, infrastructure building, modern agriculture, the digital economy, and clean energy, and reached consensus on prospective cooperation projects. 

The event was co-organized by Guangdong Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology and Guangdong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and undertaken by Guangdong provincial young entrepreneurs association, Guangdong Youth Chamber of Commerce and Zhaoqing High Technology Industry Development Zone.

Representatives from embassies of ASEAN countries in China, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR as well as around 300 representatives of young entrepreneurs from China and ASEAN countries attended the event.