NANNING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The seventh China-ASEAN Expo is to be held from Oct. 19 to 24 in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have greatly increased mutual investment and trade in recent years, especially after the establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, or CAFTA, on Jan. 1, 2010.

With a population of 1.9 billion, CAFTA is the world's third largest FTA -- after the North American FTA and the European FTA -- in terms of trade volume, which is estimated at 4.5 trillion U.S. dollars this year and a combined GDP of 6 trillion U.S. dollars.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam with a total area of 4.5 million square kilometers.

The China-ASEAN Expo was initiated by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the 7th China-ASEAN summit in 2003, in a bid to promote the establishment of CAFTA and common prosperity.

Here is some background on the previous expos:

The first four-day expo was held in 2004 in Nanning, which became a permanent venue for the event. It drew 18,000 exhibitors and visitors from home and abroad and ended with a trade volume of 1 billion U.S. dollars.

The event, along with a China-ASEAN investment summit and promotion conferences, covered sectors including machinery, home appliances, information technology, construction materials, medicines and textiles.

The second expo attracted 25,000 exhibitors and visitors and concluded with a trade volume of 1.15 billion U.S. dollars. A total of 126 international investment cooperation projects worth 5.29 billion U.S. dollars were contracted.

Premier Wen Jiabao attended the third expo, which attracted almost 40,000 exhibitors. A total of 132 international investment cooperation projects worth 5.85 billion U.S. dollars were contracted, up 10.5 percent over the previous year.

At the fourth expo, 182 international investment cooperation projects worth 6.15 billion U.S. dollars were contracted, up 5.3 percent over the previous year.

The fifth expo in 2008 was held amid the global financial crisis when regional cooperation was vital for recovery. The trade volume hit 6.52 billion U.S. dollars, and the total business turnover reached almost 1.6 billion U.S. dollars, up 12 percent.

At the sixth expo, a total of 136 cross-border cooperation projects were signed, with a combined value of 6.44 billion U.S. dollars, up 1.19 percent from the previous expo. It was extended to five days to meet the demands of exhibitors and visitors.

The seventh expo, with the theme of free trade and new opportunities, will be the first expo held after the establishment of the CAFTA. The initial fruits of the CAFTA from its first 10 months of operation is expected to be among the top topics at the expo.