NANNING, Sept. 12 -- The Republic of Korea (ROK) will join the upcoming China-ASEAN Expo for the first time as a special guest country, the expo secretariat said Saturday.

The 12th China-ASEAN Expo will be held from Sept. 18 to 21 in Nanning City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Officials and businessmen from the ROK will attend the event to promote investment and trade and explore cooperation in areas such as agriculture, tourism, education and the environment.

A 72-square-meter national exhibition area will be part of the exposition to showcase the economic and social development of the ROK. More than 20 ROK companies will bring their products to the expo.

Currently, China is the largest trade partner of the ROK. It is estimated that trade volume between the two countries will hit 300 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, and trade volume between the ROK and ASEAN will reach 150 billion U.S. dollars.

Launched in 2004, the China-ASEAN expo serves as an important platform to promote bilateral trade and relationships between China and ASEAN countries. Over the past 11 years, more than 450,000 representatives of businesses and industry have joined the event, said Wang Lei, secretary-general of the expo secretariat.