At the invitation of the Education Department of the Guangxi Autonomous Region, Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang of the ASEAN-China Center (ACC) paid a visit to Nanning, Guangxi from March 16 to 19, 2013 to inspect cooperation and exchanges between the autonomous region and ASEAN countries in education.

Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang visited the Education Department of the autonomous region, Guangxi University and Guangxi University for Nationalities. Deputy Director-General Bai Zhifan of the Education Department met with Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang and briefed him about cooperation and exchanges in education between Guangxi and ASEAN countries, Vietnam in particular.

In Guangxi University, Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang visited the school history exhibition room, China-ASEAN research center and the library. Secretary Liang Ying and President Zhao Yanlin met with Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang. They briefed each other and exchanged views on how to support each other and carry out cooperation in the future. Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang held talks with Secretary Zhong Haiqing and President Xie Shangguo in Guangxi University for Nationalities and visited the soon-to-be-completed building of the ASEAN School.

Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang Attended the Council Conference of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO)

At the invitation of the Secretariat of SEAMEO, Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang of the ASEAN-China Center (ACC) attended the 47th SEAMEO Council Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam from March 19 to 21, 2013. Education ministers, senior officials, leaders of relevant international organizations and experts from the 11 Southeast Asian countries were present.

Vietnamese President Tr??ng T?n Sang attended and addressed the opening ceremony. The conference elected Vietnamese Minister of Education and Training Ph?m V? Lu?n as the new president of the council and Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Phongthep as the vice president for the next two years. The conference decided to include the UK as the 8th associate member country and held the launch ceremony of SEAMEO College as well as the signing ceremony of documents about the establishment of SEAMEO lifelong learning center in Ho Chi Minh City. Ministers, senior officials and experts deliberated on the topic “lifelong learning: policy and prospect”. The conference also decided to hold the next gathering in Thailand in March, 2015.

During the conference, Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang met with education ministers of relevant countries as well as heads of other international organizations and briefed them about work done by the ACC. He also had working talks with the secretary-general of SEAMEO as well as director-generals of some SEAMEO regional centers. They talked about and reached preliminary consensus on the signing of the memorandum of understanding on cooperation, the 6th week of China-ASEAN educational exchange, SEAMEO College and other issues.