Exhibitors head to the China-ASEAN Expo Center, fronted by giant national emblems of each member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), at the opening of the Fourth China-ASEAN Expo on October 28.

This year the annual event took place in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. During the four-day expo, participating businesses signed contracts worth $1.42 billion, an increase of 12.1 percent over the previous session.

Strategic partnerships and economic exchanges resulted in a total volume

of bilateral trade between China and ASEAN topping $160 billion in 2006.

This figure is expected to reach $190 billion this year thanks to a continuous growth of two-way investments and preferential tariff policies.