China, ASEAN calling for expanded economic cooperation

Detian Falls, straddling the China-Vietnam border, attracts even more tourists in May, the wet season.

Peddlers sell tourism items such as Vietnamese slippers and "French" perfume on both sides of the border. On the Guichun River, part of which runs along the border, Detian Falls divides Vietnam and China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Huang Lianping, deputy director of tourism in Daxin County in Guangxi told Xinhua that the falls are treasured by people on both sides of the border: "Every year millions of tourists come to visit. The spectacular scenery has become the bread and butter of the border people."

Ma Mingqiang, Secretary-general of the ASEAN-China Center said, "China and ASEAN countries are closely related and mutually dependent. In no circumstances are we supposed to destroy the chances of bringing benefits to the people."

"A prosperous and vigorous ASEAN accords with China's strategic interests, and China is willing to achieve win-win results through expanding cooperation with ASEAN," he said.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proposed an "upgraded version" of the free trade area (FTA) between China and ASEAN during the tenth China-ASEAN Expo last September.

U Han Sein, Myanmar vice minister of transport, demonstrated his support for strengthening economic ties at a forum on regional cooperation held here last week by saying that cooperation between China and ASEAN is in line with the long-term interests of the countries in the region.

Nguyen Hong Truong, vice minister of transport of Vietnam said at the forum that he believes bilateral relations between China and Vietnam will develop in a stable way.

"China has been Vietnam's most important trade partner in the past ten years, and China and ASEAN have made huge progress in areas including agriculture, information technology, infrastructure, transportation and people-to-people exchanges." he said.

Gao Yan, vice minister of commerce of China said that the total trade volume between China and ASEAN rose from 55 billion U.S. dollars in 2002 to 444 billion U.S. dollars in 2013.

"China has become the largest trading partner of ASEAN while ASEAN is now China' s third largest trading partner." Gao said.

Wang Naixue, head of Guangxi's department of commerce told Xinhua about the transport convenience. "Apples picked in northwest China's Shaanxi Province can be transported to Vietnam in two days, and in four days they arrive at the table in Malaysia."