Chief Official of Wuxi city welcomed Guests of the First ASEAN-China Media Cooperation Forum

On 11 May 2018, Mr. Huang Xin, Deputy Party Secretary and Acting Mayor of Wuxi city, met with guests of the 1st ASEAN-China Media Cooperation Forum (the forum). H.E. Dr. AKP Mochtan, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre, representatives of embassies of Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, and Singapore to China, media representatives from ASEAN countries, Mr. Lu Cairong, Vice President of China International Publishing Group, Ms. Chen Shi, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China International Publishing Group and President of China Report Press, Mr. Yang Jing, Deputy Director-General of Foreign Affairs Office of Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, Mr. Xu Lixin, Secretary-General of Wuxi Municipal People’s Government, Mr. Wang Wei, Head of Xishan District of Wuxi, Mr. Chen Minghui, Director of Foreign Affairs Office of Wuxi, and Mr. Zhou Haijiang, Vice President of All-China Chamber of Industry & Commerce and Chairman of the Board and CEO of HOdo Group, attended the meeting.

Mr. Huang Xin welcomed the guests and expressed thankfulness to the organizers in choosing Wuxi to host the forum. He briefed on Wuxi’s economic and social development and exchanges and cooperation with ASEAN. He stated that Wuxi is a historical and cultural city famous at home and abroad. It is the most economically dynamic and competitive city and the transportation hub in the Yangtze River Delta, and is also the most livable city in China. In the 4O years since China’s reform and opening up, Wuxi has continuously expanded its opening to the outside world and has carried out good cooperation with ASEAN countries. It has become a friendship city with Princess Harbor City in the Philippines and Sihanoukville City in Cambodia. Trade volume between Wuxi and ASEAN reached 11.3 billion USD in 2017. Wuxi is willing to seize the opportunity of building the Belt and Road and further expand cooperation with ASEAN countries in the areas of economy, trade, people-to-people exchange, tourism and health. Mr. Huang Xin expressed hope that this forum served as a starting point to strengthen exchanges between the governments and media of the two sides, deepen mutual understanding and encourage more media coverage on each other’s development advantages and key cooperation areas, with a view to contributing to promote the exchange and cooperation between Wuxi-ASEAN and China-ASEAN to a new level.

H.E. Dr. AKP Mochtan, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN expressed thankfulness to the organizers and Wuxi city for the thoughtful preparation and arrangement for the forum. He mentioned that the ASEAN achieved regional GDP of 2.6 trillion USD in 2017, making it the world’s sixth largest economies and one of the most popular investment destinations. The ASEAN-China relations continue to deepen with fruitful achievements. Such vigorous development is driven not only by high-level guidance but also by local exchanges and cooperation. This year marks the 15th anniversary of ASEAN-China strategic partnership and ASEAN-China Year of Innovation. The two sides should seize this best opportunity to jointly promote ASEAN-China relations to achieve great development in the new era. He hoped the media of both sides continue to play important roles and wished the forum a complete success.