Business people from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are seeking opportunities for future development at the ongoing 5th China- ASEAN Expo here amid rampant global financial crisis.

"We want to order some rubber, fragrant rice and logs. These are specialties of ASEAN and take up a large share of China's domestic market," said Wang Yu, a trade company general manager from southeast China's Fujian Province.

ASEAN countries are full of resources, including various farm produce, minerals, logs and rubber, which are necessities for China's rapid development. ASEAN also needs China's capital and technology to speed up their infrastructure building.

At the Expo, China and ASEAN countries have signed at least 80 contracts with a total investment of 51.9 billion yuan (US$7.59 billion) on China's manufacturing, mineral exploitation and processing, tourism development, infrastructure, telecommunications, energy, agriculture and farm produce processing.

Environment protection and hi-tech industry are another two targets of cooperation. China and ASEAN have signed 13 projects with a total investment of 6.98 billion yuan at the expo, the largest in the past five expositions.

"China and ASEAN have a good prospect of cooperation on accelerating telecommunications development and industrialization, improving the informatization level and renovating traditional industries," said Lou Qinjian, Chinese vice minister of industry and information technology.

China's telecommunications giants, including Huawei Technologies, China Telecom and China Mobile, have signed contracts with their counterparts at the expo.

Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, a Muslim area in China, also promoted its beef, mutton and dairy products to the ASEAN countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

"We're willing to collaborate with China. Our products could not only enter the ASEAN market, but also the markets of the Middle East, Europe and the United State," said Ben Abdul Aziz, manager of The Halal Industry Development Corporation of Malaysia.

"As long as we fully cooperate and display our advantages, Muslim products are surely a new area of growth between ASEAN and China," he said.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam with a total area of 4.5 million square kilometers.

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2008)