South China Seas problems will not disrupt China's Pan-Beibu Gulf relations with ASEAN

South China Sea territorial disputes will not affect economic cooperation between China and related countries, a Chinese official told media on the eve of the Sixth Pan-Beibu Gulf (PBG) Economic Cooperation Forum, an annual event for China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Guangdong province, Hainan province, and six ASEAN members, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brunei.

"The South China Sea issue won't affect our PBG Economic Forum, nor will it affect the economic cooperation between countries in the PBG region," Chen Ruixian, Deputy Secretary-General of the organizing committee of the Forum, said in Nanning.

The theme of this year's Forum is 'Progress of CAFTA (China-ASEAN Free Trade Area) Development and PBG Economic Cooperation'. Participants will exchange views at three concurrent seminars: Pan-Beibu Gulf Think Tank Summit - Regional Connectivity and Cross-border Cooperation; Cross-border Trade and Investment and Pan-Beibu Gulf Cooperation on Finance; and Pan-Beibu Gulf Cooperation on Tourism.