On September 21, the 23rd China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit concluded in Nanning, Guangxi. Reporters from the Shanghai Securities News learned from the summit’s closing press conference that the Timor-Leste Chamber of Commerce and Industry officially became a co-organizer among ASEAN national chambers of commerce for the summit, enabling full coverage of the business communities across all 11 ASEAN member states.

This summit set new records in registration numbers, attendance and the volume of ASEAN delegates. More than 40 chambers of commerce and industry from ASEAN countries sent delegations, with nearly 300 ASEAN participants. A total of 25 institutional outcomes were delivered at the summit.

Reporters observed new features of China-ASEAN cooperation during the event: signed projects are increasingly concentrated in the manufacturing sector; artificial intelligence is moving from product exhibitions toward industrial application; and the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) 3.0 is advancing alignment between the two sides on standards, rules and supply chains.

Projects Prioritize Substantial Development: Manufacturing Accounts for Over 90%

A batch of key cooperation projects were signed collectively at the signing ceremony of this China-ASEAN Expo. Among industrial investment projects, manufacturing accounts for more than 90%, including 21 artificial intelligence projects, and 41 signed projects from eight cities along the Pinglu Canal Economic Belt.

Meanwhile, 254 Marine Economy Scenario Lists were released on-site, comprising 112 Opportunity Lists and 142 Capability Lists, covering three major areas: marine industries, cross-border industrial chains and supply chains, and “AI + marine economy”. The Opportunity Lists specify concrete industrial demands, while the Capability Lists showcase technologies, products and solutions available from enterprises, universities and research institutions.

The opening of the Pinglu Canal has begun to reshape corporate considerations over transportation routes and industrial layout. Chen Ying, Vice President of Huayou Holding Group, explained that the group owns raw material bases in Sichuan and Guizhou, serves clients in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and regards ASEAN as a core market. The navigable Pinglu Canal will accelerate the flow of raw materials, finished goods and other production factors across regions. The group aims to build its Yulin base in Guangxi into a model featuring “overseas resources, Guangxi manufacturing and global markets”.

Applications Deepen: AI Deployed in Real Industrial Scenarios

Artificial intelligence stood out as a highlight of this Expo and Summit. Products including AI glasses and embodied intelligent robots were showcased in exhibition halls. Outside venues, a host of AI projects and industrial platforms targeting the ASEAN market are being accelerated for launch.

In healthcare, reporters learned from Liuyao Group that on September 17, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding on strategic cooperation with the Vietnam Health Promotion Consulting Association and Xinhua Group. The three parties will cooperate on “AI + healthcare”, traditional Chinese medicine and general wellness, exploring use cases in Vietnam such as AI-assisted diagnosis, medical record generation, chronic disease management and community elderly care. They will also promote products and solutions including Chinese medicinal materials, processed herbal slices, proprietary Chinese medicines and medical AI applications into Vietnam’s market.

For cross-border industrial services, the China-ASEAN AI Industry Innovation Center (Guangxi) was officially put into operation. The center will prioritize rolling out featured use cases in ASEAN, such as multilingual large language models, smart ports, cross-border e-commerce AI and smart manufacturing.

Furthermore, Intelligent Link of Land and Sea: China-ASEAN AI International Cooperation Case Collection (2026) was released during the summit, featuring 31 representative cases covering all 11 ASEAN member states for the first time.

“If last year’s case collection mainly answered what Chinese AI can bring to ASEAN, this year further explores how both sides can achieve better results together,” said Yang Yanyan, Secretary-General of the Secretariat of the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit. She noted that the publication systematically summarized the practical model of “R&D in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou + integration in Guangxi + application in ASEAN” for the first time. A growing number of R&D achievements are deeply adapted in Guangxi to precisely meet complex demands of ASEAN application scenarios, and AI continues to deliver value for building the China-ASEAN community with a shared future.

Legal and Business Integration: Rule-based Safeguards Consolidate New Foundations

Interviewees stated that 2026 marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and a critical year for the implementation of the ACFTA 3.0. With the official navigation of the Pinglu Canal, the capacity of river-sea intermodal transport along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor will rise markedly. Regional cross-border trade and the digital economy are thriving, bringing increasingly diverse and urgent needs for economic and trade rule alignment as well as commercial legal services.

Reporters learned that the China-ASEAN Commercial Legal Forum was held alongside the summit. Centered on legal guarantees for the Pinglu Canal and the integration of artificial intelligence and legal services, the forum explored new cooperation models for foreign-related commercial legal services.

Launched in 2014, the forum has run for 12 years. This year’s forum helped establish the Qinzhou Tribunal of Beihai Maritime Court, the ASEAN-Oriented Multilateral Dispute Resolution Alliance for Foreign-related Intellectual Property, and the AI Law Research Society under the Guangxi Law Society. Twelve institutional outcomes were unveiled for the first time, including Typical Case Collection of People’s Courts Serving and Safeguarding the Construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and Typical Case Collection on Foreign-related Intellectual Property Protection under the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.

From case releases to joint standard-setting, foreign-related commercial legal services are shifting from ad-hoc events to institutionalized mechanisms. The “soft connectivity” of rules continuously consolidates the foundation for the “hard connectivity” of industrial chains.

Source: Shanghai Securities News