Nearly 90% of respondents view the gathering of 11 ASEAN member states at the CAEXPO as a vote of confidence in China's market

As the 23rd China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit gets underway, a CGTN survey of global respondents shows that 90.9% believe the continued hosting of the CAEXPO demonstrates China's firm commitment to advancing high-standard opening up. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and respondents are broadly optimistic that mutually beneficial cooperation between China and ASEAN countries will continue to reach new heights.

This year's expo has attracted around 3,300 companies, with some 33,000 buyers expected to attend. In the survey, 89.5% of respondents said the expo is not only an important window showcasing the achievements of China-ASEAN cooperation, but also a key platform for promoting business exchanges, advancing industrial matchmaking and sharing regional development opportunities. Notably, Timor-Leste made its debut as a full ASEAN member and co-host of the expo. With all 11 ASEAN members gathered at the event for the first time since ASEAN's expansion, 89.6% of respondents said this is a vote of confidence in the potential of China's vast market.

This year's expo features an "AI Marketplace" for the first time, bringing together more than 500 products from over 70 companies, including AI glasses, smartwatches, household robots, and rehabilitation and care robots. Some 84.8% of respondents believe the accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence could become a new growth driver for China-ASEAN trade and economic cooperation and industrial upgrading.

In recent years, mutually beneficial cooperation between China and ASEAN has continued to deepen, with economic and trade ties reaching new heights. In 2025, bilateral trade between China and ASEAN surpassed $1 trillion for the first time. China has remained ASEAN's largest trading partner for 17 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for six consecutive years. In the survey, 90.2% of respondents said China's unwavering commitment to expanding high-standard opening up and its continued leveraging of the advantages of its vast market are creating more opportunities for ASEAN countries' development; 87.4% said increasingly close economic and trade ties have become a cornerstone of stable China-ASEAN relations.

With the formal signing of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol, cooperation between the two sides has expanded into emerging areas including digital development, green development, standards, and industrial and supply chains. Some 87.7% of respondents believe stronger industrial and supply chain coordination will help enhance regional economic stability and resilience. The much-anticipated Pinglu Canal was completed and opened to navigation ahead of the expo, creating a major water transport route linking China's southwestern hinterland with ASEAN countries, shortening transport distances by 560 kilometers and reducing logistics costs by 18% to 30%. In the survey, 87.6% of respondents said multimodal transport, including river-sea and rail-water transport, when efficiently connected with cross-border industrial and supply chain cooperation, will further facilitate regional trade and investment. In addition, 84.5% of respondents said deeper China-ASEAN free trade cooperation will inject greater momentum into openness, cooperation and stable growth in the global economy; 88.5% said building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future is important for promoting regional peace, stability and common prosperity.

The survey was released on CGTN's English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian platforms, with 3,950 netizens voting and sharing their views within 24 hours.