REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xie Feng invited Vice President Jusuf Kalla to attend the 12th China-ASEAN EXPO (CAEXPO), which will be held on September 18.

The 12th CAEXPO will be organized on September 18-21, and the Public Open Day will be held on the last day of the event.

The event will take place at Nanning International Convention & Exhibition Center, Guangxi Province.

"We hope Vice President Kalla can attend the event," Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xie Feng stated here on Tuesday.

Ambassador Feng affirmed that China views Indonesia as an important developing country.

"It is important to improve economic cooperation between Indonesia and China in the light of the global economic slowdown," the ambassador emphasized.

"I think China and Indonesia have plenty of reasons to work together and to increase cooperation," he noted.

Based on the official site of CAEXPO, the event has successfully concluded for 11 sessions so far. It has created a new model of all-dimensional cooperation encompassing friendly exchanges, economic and trade collaboration, and people-to-people interactions.

The exhibition has also evolved to become a well-recognized platform for cooperation between China and the ASEAN, as well as an asset to promote facilitated trade and investment and an engine for deepening bilateral cooperation across all fronts.

The CAEXPO has witnessed and contributed to the Golden Decade of China-ASEAN Cooperation, emerging as a special annual international event that is co-sponsored by the governments of China and the 10 ASEAN countries.

The 12th CAEXPO is themed "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" and will be held to provide more business opportunities to China and the ASEAN countries to expand the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, to boost bilateral cooperation, and to reap more tangible economic returns.

Thailand will be the Country of Honor, while the Republic of Korea will act as the Special Guest Country.

The CAEXPO will be attended by China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang and representatives from ASEAN countries.