When delivering a keynote speech at the opening ceremony, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli gave high credits on the development of the China-ASEAN friendly relations and expressed willingness of China to work with ASEAN in implementing the Belt and Road initiative, building a more closely entwined China-ASEAN Community of Common Destiny and implementing the 2+7 cooperation framework, to promote the bilateral strategic partnership to grow from strength to strength. To this end, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli provided 6 proposals: First and foremost, to strengthen political mutual trust, enhancing strategy coordination between China and ASEAN countries; secondly, to deepen economic and trade cooperation, building an upgraded version of the China-ASEAN FTA; thirdly, to promote international capacity cooperation, achieving reciprocal and win-win cooperation of higher level; fourthly, to strengthen connectivity, building a highly efficient and convenient infrastructure network; fifthly, to advance maritime cooperation, establishing maritime cooperation partnership; and sixthly, to maintain closer people-to-people exchanges, consolidating the foundation for good-neighboring and friendly relations. Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli hoped that the CAEXPO and CABIS would make good use of strong driving forces provided by the Belt and Road initiative and produce richer practical outcomes at the future sessions.

Heads of state and government of the ASEAN countries all expressed support and willingness to participate in the Belt and Road initiative put forward by China.

General Tanasak Patimapragorn, special envoy of the prime minister of Thailand, deputy prime minister of Thailand, said that building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road would conduce to the cooperation between ASEAN countries and China. To build a high-speed railway network covering the entire region would become a major transportation network of the region. Thailand would fully support China’s fund-raising programs, and particularly, the Silk Road Fun, the China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Vice President Sai Mauk Kham of Myanmar said that the initiative of building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road advocated by China would become supplement to ASEAN connectivity and support infrastructure construction and integration building of the ASEAN Community. With support of the AIIB, the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity would be accelerated. He wished the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to become a reality on an earlier date.

Deputy Prime Minister Somsava LENGSAVAD of Lao PDR said that satellite and railways projects with China would help convert Laos from a landlocked into a land-linked nation also would foster ASEAN-China integration and connectivity within the “one belt, one road” scheme.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that Vietnam welcomes and would actively participate in research on relevant proposals put forward by China of promoting regional exchanges and cooperation, on the basis of mutual respect, balance and reciprocity, inclusive of the Belt and Road initiative that would meet the shared needs and common desires of all stakeholders for cooperation and development within the regions.

The opening ceremony chose the theme of “A Chime Concerto for Silk Road” , symbolizing that China and ASEAN countries would make good use of the ocean and sea between them, compose a harmonious melody of cooperation and open up a new vista for the bilateral cooperation.

II. The CAEXPO follows closely the upgrade of the China-ASEAN FTA, spotlights on international capacity cooperation to facilitate the China-ASEAN Information Harbor and other major projects to be grounded, significantly boosting the growth of tangible economic and trade outcomes.