Australian Ambassador to ASEAN Simon Merrifield (Photo/CAEXPO secretariat)

The China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO), jointly held by trade departments of China and ASEAN countries and the ASEAN secretariat, is a grand international event aimed at promoting construction of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and regional comprehensive economic partnership.

After 10 years of development, the expo has become an effective platform for economic exchanges and cooperation.

The 11th China-ASEAN Expo will take place from Sept 16 to 19 in the city of Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. It will introduce the special guest country mechanism for the first time. This year’s special guest country, Australia, will send a representative group to attend the expo.

Recently, Simon Merrifield, Australian ambassador to the ASEAN, gave interviews with a number of influential Chinese media outlets, including Xinhua News Agency, People’s Daily, China Daily, Economic Daily, Guangxi Television and China-ASEAN Expo Magazine.

Question 1: China is Australia’s largest trading partner; could you briefly introduce the achievements in economic and trade cooperation between China and Australia in recent years, and recommendations for further partnership in the future?

Simon Merrifield:

The rapid development of China and Australia trade and investment has brought great benefits to both sides. According to statistics, bilateral trade between China and Australia reached around $135.97 billion in 2013, China is also Australia’s largest market for agricultural products, its largest source of overseas students and its second largest source of tourists.

Both governments have agreed to step up efforts to promote the construction of the Free Trade Agreement. We are also seeing sustained Australian investment in China, and we hope that China’s continued reform efforts, including the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, will see the investment environment for Australian companies in China continue to improve.

Question 2: The governments of China and the 10 ASEAN countries and the ASEAN secretariat jointly decided to co-organize the CAEXPO since 2004. How would you comment on the roles that have been played by the CAEXPO in boosting exchanges and cooperation among the countries concerned?

Simon Merrifield:

The 11th China ASEAN Expo in Nanning, Guangxi, offers opportunities to build on existing regional economic and trade cooperation and to promote increased business interaction between Australia, China and the ASEAN countries.

Australia’s economic and people-to-people links with China and ASEAN countries continue to grow strongly. While China remains our largest trading partner, Australia’s trade relationship with the ASEAN is also enjoying strong growth. The ASEAN accounted for 14.3 percent of Australia’s total goods and services trade in 2013.