China-ASEAN Mayors' Forum to be held in south China

NANNING, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The China-ASEAN Mayors' Forum 2019 will be held between Sept. 17 to 19 in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The forum is aimed to provide a platform for mayors of Chinese and ASEAN cities to discuss issues such as advancing cooperation in industrial and business sectors and improving people's livelihood, according to a press conference held by the organizing committee Wednesday.

They will also exchange views on building the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a trade and logistics passage jointly built by western Chinese provincial regions and ASEAN countries under the framework of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity.

Themed "promoting the cooperation and sustainable development of Chinese and ASEAN cities, creating a better future for the Silk Road," this year's forum will be held as a sideline event at the 16th China-ASEAN Expo, to be held in Nanning from Sept. 20 to 23.

Inaugurated in 2015, the annual China-ASEAN Mayors' Forum has so far attracted mayors from more than 20 Chinese provincial-level regions and about 200 ASEAN cities.

ASEAN countries are Guangxi's biggest trading partner. In the first seven months of this year, Guangxi's trade with ASEAN saw a year-on-year increase of 13 percent to reach 128.51 billion yuan (18.23 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for 48.7 percent of the region's foreign trade.