Dear readers

Amid a hubbub of media conversations over the Hague tribunal rulings over the South China Sea， which China refers to as “unjust” and “a piece of scrap paper”， another wave of resonance speaks even louder when China holds a news conference hosted by the Information Office of the State Council to promote the forthcoming 13th CHINA ASIAN Exposition and its sister program China-Asian Business and Investment Forum， an official effort that China is bound to make for economic prospect on a shared growth in the region in a sharp contrast to a piece of scrap paper that has no binding force at all when China deemed it illegal and law-abusing.

While efforts are being made to welcome discussions to tackle any problems in a peaceful manner， more endeavors are focused on engaging economic dynamics in the region for fighting poverty and stepping up process of prosperity. CHINA ASEAN Exposition is a business territory with a wider swath of either nautical or continental economic zones for the regional participants to share for boosting trade and investment， a disposition that shapes the future for the better life，rather than a dispute that aggravates the goal.

China is the No.1 trade partner for ASEAN while the 10-member league is the third largest business peer for the world most populous country. The official data shows that as of May 2016， the bilateral investment in two-way traffic record reached 160 billion U.S. dollars for trade， logistics， buildings， energy， manufacturing， and commercial services. The bilateral trade curved up from $7.96 billion in 1991 to $472.16 billion last year， up 18.5 percent in averaged growth， with Asian countries accounting for 12 percent of market share in Chinas foreign trade. The economic recovery in the world is anaemic， resulting in a lethargic market demand that struck the business down to a low level in Jan. - May performance registering $173.57 billion between China and ASEAN partners， 7.1 percent drop in bilateral trade.

In fact， the slowdown in global trade growth against the present economic landscape is much concerned and expressed in Chinas 13th Five-Year Program for Trade Development that came out just this month without the quantitative goal in a given volume for international trade growth in merchandise （goods） when it comes to the end of 2016-2020 program， as it has never been the case before. The year of 2015 witnessed 3.95864 trillion dollars worth of goods in import and export totality， amazingly short of 4.8 trillion-dollar goal at a growth level by 5.9 percent， much lower than 10 percent prospect on average when the 12th Five-Year Program for Trade Development gonged to close. The absence of the goal quantification for the merchandise in foreign trade for the new development program is nothing but a worry of the world economic recovery that shows no sign of quick climbing up， as hindered by uncertainties stemming from geopolitical tensions， regional conflicts and terror attacks， and from the low efficiency and difficulties in the essences of economic development in the developing countries. There are active drivers for trade growth expressly laid down in the strategic plan， including service trade that is given a goal for over 1 trillion dollars in 2020， outnumbering 713 billion dollars in 2015s goal by 290 billion dollars， and going-global investment for 720 billion dollars， all of which provide opportunities for cooperation with ASEAN and other countries on international horizon. But the business territory can jointly be explored， developed and shared for common interest， compatible with the laws of the market without being submissively leashed to any panel nonsense.endprint