From September 19 to 20, the 2026 China‑ASEAN Engineers Forum was held in Nanning, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Marking the 35th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations and the in-depth advancement of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0, the forum takes AI-driven engineering innovation as its core theme, aiming to serve as a specialized platform for high-level dialogues, technological collaboration and talent exchange among Chinese and foreign engineers, injecting fresh impetus into deepening practical engineering cooperation and fostering a regional community for engineering development, the Global Times learned from the organizers.

Co-hosted by the Chinese Society of Engineers (CSE), the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations (AFEO) and the Guangxi Association for Science and Technology. The forum brought together more than 100 Chinese and foreign engineering experts, scholars and industry representatives. Huang Junhua, vice chairman of the Guangxi Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and Ilham Akbar Habibie, AFEO chairman, attended the opening ceremony and delivered remarks.

Under the theme “Empowering Engineering with AI, Connecting ASEAN through Wisdom,” the 2026 China-ASEAN Engineers Forum delved into cutting-edge topics including AI-enabled engineering capacity building, green infrastructure, smart energy and cross-border engineering collaboration. Academician Wang Huaming, Hu Ya’an and Mao Junfa, distinguished domestic experts such as National Outstanding Engineer Lin Mingzhi, together with ASEAN regional and national engineering organization representatives, including Tan Chee Fai and Harish Pillai, delivered keynote speeches. 

During the forum, Chinese and foreign guests also visited the China-ASEAN AI Innovation Cooperation Center for field inspections to gain first‑hand insights into local achievements of smart engineering innovation.

Romulo Ramos Agatep, chair of the International Relations Committee of the Philippine Technological Council (PTC), witnessed the continuous evolution of the forum. He told the Global Times that the 2025 forum held in Clark, the Philippines, had set core agendas covering AI, green engineering and engineer capacity building, establishing a steady tradition of exchanges. The 2026 forum in Nanning achieved new breakthroughs by translating AI from conceptual discussions into industrial application across the full engineering chain, covering multiple segments such as construction machinery, building digitization and enterprise digital transformation. 

Tan, secretary general of the AFEO and vice president of the Institute of Engineers of Malaysia (IEM), spoke highly of the forum’s innovative value and long-term significance. He told the Global Times that past China-ASEAN cooperation largely centered on engineering projects and equipment trade. Breaking away from conventional frameworks, this forum puts mutual recognition of engineer competencies, technical mutual trust and experience sharing at its heart, capturing the essence of regional engineering cooperation. “Engineers are primary drivers of engineering collaboration. Only with mutual trust and talent mobility can project cooperation and industrial coordination achieve sustained, steady progress,” Tan said.

In Tan’s view, ASEAN countries are undergoing critical phases of infrastructure upgrading and green transition. Boasting rich experience in major-project innovation and well-established technical systems, China presents strong complementary advantages with ASEAN. The forum pursues three key objectives: further implementing mutual recognition of engineers to enable cross-border talent flows; building a regular technical dialogue platform for AI-driven engineering, green engineering and smart manufacturing; and expanding training cooperation and youth talent development to translate forum consensus into tangible collaborative projects.

A highlight of the forum is the release of a list of mutually-recognized engineers under the two countries’ mutual recognition agreement. According to the list, nine Malaysian engineers have obtained membership of the CSE, marking a new breakthrough in the implementation of the mutual-recognition program of the two countries.

The Global Times learned that the CSE signed an agreement with the IEM, one of Malaysia’s most authoritative engineering body, for recognition of competency of individual members in 2023. This means that China and Malaysia set a unified benchmark for engineering competency and conduct standardized assessments.

Tan told the Global Times that the core of engineer mutual recognition is benchmarking and mutual trust in engineering competency, practical experience and professional ethics. The rollout of engineer mutual recognition delivers tangible benefits for ASEAN engineers. First of all, it bridges the divide of repeated assessments for cross-border practice. Eligible engineers may rely on their mutually recognized registration qualification to join cross-border engineering bidding and project implementation, cutting time costs and institutional barriers for cross-border practice. Secondly, mutual recognition establishes a unified competency benchmark, enabling engineers to gain regional recognition of their professional capabilities and broaden career prospects. Lastly, alongside projects undertaken by Chinese enterprises across ASEAN, locally registered ASEAN engineers can deeply participate in joint projects with Chinese partners, gaining access to cutting-edge engineering practice opportunities and upgrading their technical expertise.

Zhi Qingyu, a senior engineer at State Grid Henan Electric Power, told the Global Times that instead of focusing merely on equipment displays and business negotiations, the forum prioritizes talent mutual recognition and competency-based trust, building a regular platform for face-to-face dialogue among engineers, which constitutes its greatest value.

During the interview with the Global Times, Zhi noted that the widespread adoption of AI is fundamentally reshaping traditional China-ASEAN engineering cooperation models. “Cross-border energy cooperation used to focus mainly on project delivery and on-site construction. Digitalization and AI are transforming such ties into full-cycle, remotely-collaborative technical partnerships,” Zhi explained.

It is the first time that representatives of the Nepal Engineers Association (NEA) have attended the forum. Prakash K C, vice president of the NEA, told the Global Times that the gathering brings together top-tier engineering expertise from China and ASEAN with practical, substantial agendas. Beyond cutting‑edge technical sharing, it places heavy emphasis on engineer training and mutual recognition of engineers, offering a valuable multilateral exchange gateway for South Asian engineering organizations.

As a mountainous nation endowed with abundant hydropower resources yet challenged by complex geology, Nepal faces formidable obstacles in mountain-region infrastructure and geological-disaster prevention. According to Prakash K C, the forum’s shared insights on AI-enabled engineering technologies, green infrastructure practices and professional engineer development systems provide vital references for Nepal’s infrastructure upgrade and local workforce development, offering meaningful inspiration for tackling mountain‑engineering bottlenecks and advancing green energy development.