China to enhance cooperation with South Asian countries

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said Sunday that China is willing to enhance cooperation with countries in South Asia in the fields of customs, quality inspection, e-commerce and transportation.

China will step up building free trade areas with those countries and increase import from them, Wang said in a keynote speech at the fourth China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The country supports domestic companies to conduct production cooperation in South Asia to help their industrialization, the vice premier said.

It is also willing to accelerate the formation of economic corridors between China and South Asian countries in a bid to enhance economic and trade cooperation, he said.

Cooperation in tourism should also be enhanced by simplifying cross-border procedures and encouraging the joint promotion of tourism resources, Wang said.

Co-hosted by China's Ministry of Commerce and the provincial government of Yunnan, the six-day expo starting Sunday will focus on international cooperation of industrial capacity, the building of economic corridors, and technology transfers. Endi