In spite of the global financial crisis, mutual investment activity between China and ASEAN continued to increase throughout 2008.

According to official statistics, China-ASEAN mutual investment levels had reached almost $60 billion by the end of 2008.

Five years ago, the trade volume between China and the ASEAN block was only $105.9 billion but in 2008, the volume had risen to $231.1 billion, an increase of 145 percent.

The Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) region includes the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Guangdong, Yunnan, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces, as well as the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

The region's close geographical proximity to a number of member nations of ASEAN has seen the two establish increasingly close and significant links.

Established in 1967, ASEAN now has 10 member countries - Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Since the PPRD region established its own regular cooperation mechanism back in 2004, the PPRD Regional Cooperation and Development Forum and Trade Fair has become a major driving force in China's trade with the ASEAN-aligned nations.

The major products exported by the PPRD region to the ASEAN block include machinery, IT products and textiles. At the same time, the region mainly imports raw materials from ASEAN, notably rubber, paper, oil, mineral ore and fruits.