For Chai, attending the expo for eight years in a row has not always been easy. Last year, he traveled from Malaysia to China to take part in the event despite COVID-19-induced travel restrictions and quarantine measures.

"We spared no effort to attend last year's expo because we had found many of our business partners at the event," he said. "We have sold a lot of our products at previous editions of the expo and have further tapped into the Chinese market through this platform."

Chai's growing business in China mirrors the booming trade and strong bilateral ties between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over the past decades.