BEIJING, Sept. 8 -- China has remained the largest trading partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for 16 consecutive years, a commerce official said Monday.

Trade between China and the ASEAN reached 597 billion U.S. dollars in the first seven months of this year, up 8.2 percent year on year and accounting for 16.7 percent of China's total foreign trade for the same period, according to Vice Minister of Commerce Yan Dong.

As of the end of July, the cumulative two-way investment exceeded 450 billion U.S. dollars, Yan said.

Meanwhile, Chinese companies have been active in contracting infrastructure projects in ASEAN countries, with a cumulative turnover of 480 billion dollars by the end of July.

Yan was speaking at a press conference on the 22nd China-ASEAN Expo. Scheduled from Sept. 17 to 21, the expo will take place in Nanning, the capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.