NANNING - An international auto expo kicked off Thursday in the city of Liuzhou, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, in a move to boost cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the automobile industry.

The China-ASEAN Auto, Engineering Machinery and Parts Expo, has more than 260 companies from China, India and the ASEAN countries in attendance, said Mayor Zheng Junkang.

The three-day expo is organized by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the China National Machinery Industry Corporation, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export Machinery and Electronic Products, and the Liuzhou city government.

With 400 interior exhibition booths, it covers an area of 4,000 square meters indoors and another 6,000 square meters outdoors, according to the organizing committee.

Mao Thora, secretary of state for the Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia, said ASEAN countries could trace the new development trend of the automobile industry and seek cooperation opportunities with China through the expo.