NANNING, Sept. 20 -- A total of 2,848 enterprises from over 30 countries will attend the 16th China-ASEAN Expo, which will be held in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Saturday.

Themed "Building the Belt & Road, Realizing Our Vision for a Community of Shared Future," this year's expo, along with the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, will last until Sept. 24 in the city of Nanning, capital of Guangxi.

Among the attendees, 131 are international companies from 20 countries, including Poland, the Republic of Korea and Australia. A new exhibition area features skincare products from the Republic of Korea will be set up this year, Gao Feng, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Commerce said at the press conference Friday.

The spokesperson said 33 high-level forums will be held at the expo and summit.

Gao said this year marks the first year for the implementation of the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership Vision 2030, and the events are expected to advance cooperation in various fields, including trade, investment, capacity cooperation, digital economy, science and technology, finance, e-commerce and tourism.

A blue paper focusing on China-ASEAN industrial capacity cooperation will be published at the expo to provide authoritative information for businesses, Gao said.

Initiated in 2004, the expo is an important platform to promote trade and relations between China and ASEAN countries.

The total volume of trade between China and ASEAN countries hit a record high of 587.87 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, up 14.1 percent year on year.