China and ASEAN countries signed seven mining cooperation agreements valued at about 16.3 billion yuan ($2.59 billion) during the China-ASEAN Mining Cooperation Forum and Exhibition over the weekend.

The event, co-hosted by Chinese resource and commerce authorities and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region government, was held in Nanning, capital of Guangxi, from Friday to Sunday.

The event, on the theme "technological cooperation and scientific development of the mining industry", attracted more than 800 representatives from the government, commerce departments, trade organizations and mining associations, and mining specialists and entrepreneurs from China and ASEAN countries. The parties exchanged views on investment and regional cooperation in mining.