Preparations are under way for the imminent China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asia Nations) Expo to be held from November 3 to 6 in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Obtaining a booth in the exhibition ground has become a battle.

By the end of August, 4,261 enterprises had filed applications for an existing 1,763 booths, far outdoing organizers' expectations.

"Priority will be given to ASEAN countries and then to other provinces at home and last to Guangxi," said Li Jinzao, deputy chairman of the autonomous region.

So far, companies from ASEAN and other countries and regions have applied for 781 booths, accounting for 44.2 per cent of the total provided. Chinese enterprises, mainly from Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Beijing, have applied for 2,933 booths, far exceeding the total booths available.

Celebrated enterprises, such as Bayer Group from Germany, Charoen Pokphand Group from Thailand, Sinar Mars from Indonesia, Sinopec, Chongqing Lifan Industrial Group and TCL Group, will have a presence at the Expo.

"The China-ASEAN Expo is expected to give Guangxi's economy a strong shot in the arm," said Li.

In the first half of this year, Guangxi realized a gross domestic product (GDP) of 138.5 billion yuan (US$16.7 billion), an increase of 12.8 per cent compared with the same period of last year, and also 3.1 per cent above the national average.

Fixed-asset investment topped 72.6 billion yuan (US$8.7 billion), up 29.8 per cent year-on-year and 6.2 per cent above the national average.

Fiscal income rose 18.9 per cent, reaching 19 billion yuan (US$2.3 billion). Imports and exports climbed 22.5 per cent from the same period of last year, hitting 1.85 billion yuan (US$223 million).

To guarantee the expo success, the local government has made great efforts in infrastructure construction.

"The urban construction level in Nanning has leaped at least 10 years forward because of preparations for the expo," Li said.

The Guangxi government is striving to make three breakthroughs this year: Over 300 billion yuan (US$36.1 billion) in GDP, 40 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion) in fiscal income and 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in profits of key industrial enterprises.

"Geographic advantages and abundant minerals in Guangxi are most appealing to me," said Tong Djoe, chairman of Tunas Pte Ltd from Singapore who visited Guangxi mid-September to investigate the investment environment.

Guangxi, situated in the centre of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, is the only region in China that provides both land and sea access to Southeast Asian countries.

ASEAN countries are the largest trade partners of Guangxi, which has a 637-kilometre border with ASEAN member Viet Nam. Countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have made large investments in Guangxi.

Li said that more than 100 projects with a total investment of 21.2 billion yuan (US$ 2.6 billion) were expected to be clinched during the Expo.

To better serve the China-ASEAN Expo, Viet Nam established a Consulate General in Nanning in May. Other ASEAN countries are also expected to appoint representative offices in Nanning shortly.

"As Guangxi has been the bridge linking China with ASEAN countries, Viet Nam also wants to be a beachhead," said Tran Duy Hai, the Consul General.

At present, China is the third largest trade partner of Viet Nam, after the United States and Japan.

Of the total trade volume between Viet Nam and China, Guangxi makes up one third.

It is estimated that the trade volume between China and Viet Nam is expected to exceed 41.5 billion yuan (US$5 billion) by the end of 2004.

"The Viet Nam Government pays close attention to China's huge market," Tran said. About 80 to 100 Viet Nam enterprises will attend the expo.

"It is indeed a win-win deal," said Lin Guoqiang, mayor of Nanning, "We are not only absorbing foreign investment, but also encouraging enterprises to invest in ASEAN countries."

Guangxi's investment in Viet Nam has exceeded 83 million yuan (US$10 million).

With the Expo impending, safety concerns are receiving more attention.

A unified emergency response centre has been established in Nanning.

The system brings together public security, fire response, medical emergency, traffic police, flood prevention and earthquake proofing under a single umbrella. All calls for help will be transferred to the unified system to improve efficiency.

The China-ASEAN Business & Investment Summit will also be launched in Nanning at the same time as the China-ASEAN Expo, the organizing committee says.