181. CAEXPO @ NANNING

 

CAEXPO @ NANNING

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

21 September 2023

Nanning is the third city in China I stepped on. The first was when I was sent to the capital Beijing, also known as Peking, by Congressman Faustino S. Dy, Jr. of the 2nd District of Isabela (1992-2001) to study the history, culture and the arts of the Chinese in the year 2000. Before I headed back to the Philippines, I had a short stay in Xiamen, formerly known as Amoy, the city where my maternal forefathers originated at the turn of the 20th century. This week, I was sent to China on an official capacity to grace the 20th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and Business & Investment Summit held at the Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nanning, capital of south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Joining me from the tourism sector was our office’ chief tourism operations officer, sir Thomas G. Santos and two travel and tours operators; Ms. Verna B. Labang of the R&V Fly Global Travel & Tours and Ms. Kashelyn L. Cangas of the Maranatha Travel & Tours.

The Expo is an international trade event co-sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of China, the Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines and their counterparts of the other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries as well as the ASEAN Secretariat and organized by the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. With 19 successful sessions in a row, the CAEXPO has fostered a Nanning Channel for promoting trade and investment cooperation between China and the Philippines. The year 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and 20th anniversary of the CAEXPO. With "Work together for a harmonious home and a shared future: promoting high quality development of the BRI and nurturing new epicenter of growth" as its theme, the 20th CAEXPO took place in Nanning, China from September 16 to 19, 2023. Its physical show covered a total exhibition area of 102,000 square meters and features five exhibition themes, namely, trade in goods, investment cooperation, advanced technology, trade in services and cities of charm. Commodity pavilions of Singapore and other ASEAN countries were set up as usual.

The Philippines continues to strengthen foreign export and trade relations as it brings local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) front and center at the CAEXPO). The Philippine delegation is led by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the export promotions arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). A mix of exhibitors, including food and beverage manufacturers, home and lifestyle enterprises, and banking and travel companies, will be carrying the country’s banner at the China-based expo. On the last leg of the expo, our office arranged for a short tourism circuit tour for the Philippine delegation at Qingxiu Mountain, Museum of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Three Streets and Two Lanes.

A welcome highlight to this year's Philippine participation in CAEXPO is the introduction of Tuguegarao City, Cagayan as the country’s esteemed "City of Charm." The city, led by Mayor Maila Rosario S. Ting-Que, opened its doors to various investment ventures and potential partnerships with national government agencies and direct foreign investment. The city is focused on generating growth in its priority sectors, such as agriculture and agribusiness, tourism and hospitality, healthcare and medical services, education and research, and manufacturing and logistics.

The Philippine National Pavilion is located at Zone B2. The Commodity Pavilion is located at Exhibition Hall Zone D, booth numbers: 7129-7138 and 7151-7160 of the Nanning International Exhibition and Convention Center (NIECC). A total of 15 exhibitors are on hand for the four-day event, featuring products and services in the following categories: food (Brics Ventures, Dataj Aquafarm Inc., Enature Energy Drinks Philippines Inc., Eng Seng Food Products, Lighthouse Cooperative, OneAsia Trader, Raspina Tropical Fruits Inc., Soyuz Foods International Inc., and 22 Propack Asia Corporation), fashion and home (Kitsilver and Santa Praxedes Sarakat Women Weavers Association ), naturals (Bebebalm, Inc. and Jegen S.W.E. Enterprises), services (BDO Unibank Inc. and R&V Fly Global Travel and Tours). Cultural presentations by the Cagayan State University (CSU) gave a festive mood in the annual event.

Each night I would roam around the vicinity of the hotel I was booked in, the Kyriad Marvelous Hotel, and would window shop on local goods and tasted a number of local street food essentials. I always enjoyed the night sky and the company of locals and later bought dozens of moon cakes as pasalubong. Browsing the history of the city revealed: Nanning, an ancient city with a long history and rich culture, was part of Baiyue ethnic groups in the ancient time. In the first year of Daxing period of Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 318), Jinxing County, established as one of the county towns, ushered a history of 1700 years of Nanning organizational system. During the Zhenguan period of Tang dynasty (AD 632), it was renamed Yong prefecture (Yongzhou) and established Yongzhou as the seat of government. In the first year of Taiding period of Yuan dynasty (AD1318), Yongzhou was renamed Nanning, meaning the Pacified South.

Nanning was once the territory of the Baiyue people and became the capital of Jinxing Prefecture which was separated from Yulin Prefecture of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In 1076, during the Lý–Song War, Yongshou was besieged by Lý forces. Under the leadership of Su Jian, the garrison held out for forty-two days before succumbing. The city was razed to the ground and its people massacred by Lý dynasty.

In 1324 during the Yuan dynasty, it was renamed Nanning Lu (Nanning Circuit) of Yongzhou. Historically, Nanning was famous for trade and had permanent business offices from other areas in China since the Song dynasty. During the Ming dynasty, Nanning developed into an economic center of the Zuo River and the You River with the reputation of "Little Nanjing".

On December 4, 1949, Nanning was captured by the Communist Party of China (CPC). On January 1950, Nanning municipality was set up and on February 8 of the same year, it was identified as the capital city of Guangxi. On March 1958, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was established and Nanning municipality became the capital city.

Nanning is known as the "Green City " because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the south of Guangxi, the city is surrounded by a hilly basin, with a warm, monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate. Since 1949, as it underwent sustained industrial growth, Nanning's economy began developing beyond its former role, and the city became essentially a commercial and administrative center. At present, Nanning is considered the economic, financial and cultural center of Guangxi, and the chief center for the training of the Zhuang minority in Guangxi. The city is home to several notable universities, including Guangxi University, Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi University for Nationalities and Guangxi Arts University. Nanning serves as host for CAEXPO since 2004 and the venue for the 2006 World Robotics Olympiad.

Nanning taught me the rudiments in cooperation, trade, economy and other fields as well as the people-to-people exchanges which increased the bilateral political mutual trust and friendly interactions. Being part of the official Philippine delegation to a foreign country especially in an international trade fair gave me goose bumps throughout the duration of the event and makes me prouder of being a Filipino. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas. Love the Philippines!