CHINA will work with ASEAN to promote high-quality development of key segments of emerging industries and facilitate the flow of various resources to deepen integration in the field, Jin Zhuanglong, minister of industry and information technology, said at the China-ASEAN Forum on Emerging Industries in Shenzhen on Tuesday.

The two-day event, which wrapped up at Wuzhou Guest House in Futian District yesterday, gathered over 300 representatives from governments, enterprises and institutions from China and ASEAN countries. The event consisted of a main forum and three parallel forums.

Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, Indonesia’s minister of industry, said as ASEAN makes efforts to play a leading role in the field of electric vehicles globally, there is large potential for cooperation between the region and China. Annual sales of new energy vehicles in China have reached 6.8 million units, topping global rankings for eight consecutive years.

Malaithong Kommasith, industry and commerce minister of Laos, said emerging industries face many barriers globally like a lack of consumer awareness, insufficient financing, imposed restrictions, high costs of research and development, and unfriendly environment.

“Therefore, promoting regional cooperation on emerging industries could be a strategic choice for ASEAN and China to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, foster economic growth and attain development in the region,” he said.

Liang Hua, chairman of Huawei Technologies Co., said Huawei is committed to helping ASEAN countries build a digital talent ecosystem, with more than 200,000 digital professionals being nurtured through various projects launched by the company in recent years.

As a Chinese technology company that has been working in the ASEAN region for 14 years, Shenzhen’s Sangfor Technologies Inc. is now one of the region’s leading providers for network security and innovative cloud computing, according to its chairman He Zhaoxi.

Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD, announced at the forum that the company had set up its first overseas passenger car production base in Thailand this March.

ASEAN is Shenzhen’s second-largest trading partner, according to the city’s industry and information technology bureau.

Xiao Zuping, deputy director of the bureau, said cooperation between Shenzhen and ASEAN countries in emerging industries focuses on the digital economy, new energy vehicles, energy electronics and other fields.

In the first four months this year, Shenzhen’s trade with ASEAN countries reached 163.9 billion yuan (US$22.63 billion), up by 6.7% year on year.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of China’s accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. China and ASEAN became each other’s largest trading partners in 2020, with China’s trade with ASEAN amounting to 6.52 trillion yuan in 2022, data showed.                (Han Ximin)