ACC Secretary-General Interacted with ASEAN and Chinese Media

On 12 May 2018, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) interacted with ASEAN and Chinese media andshared view on the prospect of developing ASEAN-China relations and ASEAN-China media cooperation.

Secretary-General Yang spoke highly of the remarkable achievements made in the rapid development of ASEAN-China relations. She mentioned that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had a successful visit to Indonesia where he visited the ASEAN Secretariat. Premier Li highlighted that China and ASEAN are good neighbors, good friends and good partners. China always takes ASEAN as a priority in its diplomacy with neighbouring countries and is committed to developing friendly cooperation with ASEAN. China supports the establishment of ASEAN community, ASEAN’s centrality in regional cooperation, and supports ASEAN in playing a bigger role in building an open and inclusive regional framework. China is committed to be ASEAN’s partner for peace and common development, for greater openness and win-win progress, for entrepreneurship and innovation, and in promoting inclusiveness and mutual learning, with a view to jointly promoting ASEAN-China relations and cooperation to achieve greater development and promote regional peace, stability and development.

Realizing that the year 2018 marks the 15th anniversary of ASEAN-China strategic partnership and the two sides are formulating “ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership Vision 2030”, Secretary-General Yang said that ASEAN-China relation has entered a new era. 2018 is also ASEAN-China Year of Innovation. Both sides regard innovation as an important means to promote sustainable economic and social development. As ASEAN’s rotating chair, Singapore proposed “Resilience and Innovation” as theme of this year. China is implementing innovation-driven development strategy and is striving to promote the construction of innovative country. The two sides are currently planning to carry out a series of thematic activities, which will be helpful for the two sides to learn from each other, complement each other and promote common development, and further bring new opportunities for achieving a higher level of ASEAN-China strategic partnership.

Secretary-General Yang also briefed on the main functions and work of ACC. As an inter-governmental organization co-established by China and 10 ASEAN Member States, ACC has been actively implementing the important consensus reached by the leaders of both sides, and is committed to promote practical cooperation in such areas as trade, investment, education, culture, and tourism, making positive contributions to the comprehensive and in-depth development of ASEAN-China relations. To echo the 15th anniversary of ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership and ASEAN-China Year of Innovation, ACC would carry out 21 flagship projects approved by Joint Council this year.

Secretary-General Yang thanked media of both sides for their contributions to the development of ASEAN-China relations. She believed that by participating in the 4th reporting trip themed “2018 ASEAN-China Jointly Building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road” and the 1st “ASEAN-China Media Cooperation Forum” hosted by ACC, media of both sides will further enhance their understanding of ASEAN-China practical cooperation and deepen their mutual understanding and friendship, and provoke their thinking on the future of media exchanges and cooperation. She hoped that media of both sides would continue to play a unique role, support the development of ASEAN-China relations and inject more positive energy into the development of ASEAN-China strategic partnership.

Participants from ASEAN countries expressed thankfulness to ACC for its thoughtful preparation and arrangement for this forum. They appreciated the opportunity to experience the achievements of China’s economic and social development and the fruitful outcomes of ASEAN-China practical cooperation. They said the communication with Chinese counterparts benefit them a lot and hoped to have more chances to join such kind of activities organized by ACC, so as to show the huge potentials and broad prospects of ASEAN-China cooperation to people in the ASEAN countries.