Smarter regional ties

For 22-year-old Lalupu Chuque Claudia Celeste from Peru, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region had long felt familiar. After living there for three years, she thought she had already seen much of what the region had to offer.

But her first visit to the exhibition halls of the 23rd China-ASEAN Expo revealed a different side of Guangxi.

"It's impressive to see how quickly China is developing, especially in AI technology here in Nanning," she said.

Held from Sept 17 to 21 in Nanning, capital of Guangxi, the expo attracted more than 3,400 enterprises from over 70 countries and regions and showcased new opportunities in trade, investment and emerging technologies.

The event also caught the attention of 21-year-old Pakistani buyer Ali Aizaz, who was particularly interested in the technology products on display.

"I'm planning to arrange some drone cameras for export to Pakistan," he said. "I have selected some products, and maybe I will place the order in about a week."

Artificial intelligence was one of the expo's major highlights. A dedicated AI exhibition area displayed more than 500 products, including AI-powered glasses and other wearable devices, showing how intelligent technologies are increasingly finding their way into everyday life.

Among the exhibitors was Zhou Xiaohan, 33, from technology company InnAIO. At her booth sat a small, metal, disc-shaped device that quickly attracted visitors.

The device is an AI translator that can be magnetically attached to a smartphone. Beyond basic translation, it can clone a user's voice and speak different languages, allowing people from different countries to communicate more naturally, Zhou explained.

"The product has already gained popularity in North America and Japan, and we hope to expand into ASEAN markets through this expo," she said.

For some exhibitors, AI was also becoming a way to blend technology with local culture.

Luo Yi, 33, general manager of cultural communication company Siyecao, attended the event for the second time. He said the company draws on Guangxi's cultural and historical resources to develop its creative products.

For example, Lingqiqi, one of Siyecao's original Guangxi-themed cultural IP creations, was inspired by the white-headed langur, a species unique to Guangxi.

"It is a species under first-class national protection in China. Its population is even smaller than that of giant pandas," Luo explained.

The company is now developing an AI companion toy featuring Lingqiqi, with voice interaction capabilities in ASEAN languages.

"We plan to make it small enough to be worn as a bag pendant, so people can interact with it more easily wherever they go," Luo said.

Powering digital futures

Beyond the exhibition halls, young participants were also exploring how AI could be applied to challenges in their own communities.

Luo was not only an exhibitor at the expo. He was also a representative of one of more than 50 youth projects participating in the Acceleration Week for China-ASEAN Youth Development Programs, an initiative held in connection with the expo.

Among the participants was Guilhermino Da Cruz, 29, from Timor-Leste, which joined ASEAN in 2025 and took part in the China-ASEAN Expo as a co-host for the first time this year.

Cruz presented a project developed by his youth center in Bobonaro, Timor-Leste, which uses AI tools to help young people, especially women, build digital skills and explore solutions in education, work, creativity and community development.

"In Timor-Leste, many women in rural areas still lack access to information," Cruz said. "That's why I want to use technology to help them obtain accurate and safe basic information."

He recalled a young woman's first experience using AI at the center. Initially nervous because she did not speak English, she later discovered that the AI model supported Tetum, one of Timor-Leste's official languages, allowing her to ask questions in simple words and learn about maternal health.

But Cruz said access alone was not enough, stressing that young users also needed to understand the technology's limitations.

"We often remind people not to believe 100 percent of what AI says or share private data with AI," he said.

"We teach them to use AI responsibly, with ethics and respect."

Questions of reliability and privacy were also central to other youth projects presented at the event. Muthiah Rahmi Salfia, a 26-year-old entrepreneur from Indonesia, presented AILex, a generative AI tool designed to simplify access to legal and regulatory information.

Salfia said searching regulations manually could take lawyers days or even longer. Now, users can quickly find relevant legal references with a simple prompt, drawing on an internal database of verified information. The platform has already been adopted by more than 700 organizations in Indonesia and other Asian countries.

"In the legal field, we work with sensitive client data, so we have to ensure that confidential information is protected and not shared publicly through AI," Salfia said.

Another Indonesian entrepreneur, 26-year-old Nidya Anifa, presented Bright-Her-HerLens, an AI-powered initiative for early cervical cancer screening.

The program helps midwives and doctors improve screening services in underserved communities in Indonesia. It has already reached more than 7,600 beneficiaries, trained over 80 healthcare workers and been introduced at eight grassroots medical institutions.

Anifa said the project grew out of a personal experience, as one of the co-founders' mothers had died from cancer.

Driven by that experience, the team aims to make early screening more accessible for women in rural areas. Those identified as potentially at risk can receive early treatment or be referred to larger hospitals.

Before coming to Guangxi, Anifa had also used technology to familiarize herself with Nanning. She watched videos about Nanning on YouTube and used ChatGPT to learn more about it.

"AI can help us discover other cultures and languages, or simply provide an introduction," she said. "And then we can deepen that understanding through conversations and real-life experiences."

"After all, we don't want to focus only on AI. We want to build real connections with people," she added.