The 4th Meetings of the Joint Executive Board and the Joint Council of ASEAN-China Centre Convened

On 22 December 2014, the 4th Meetings of the Joint Executive Board (JEB) and the Joint Council (JC) of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) was held at the ACC Secretariat in Beijing. 

The Joint Executive Board Meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Thit Linn Ohn, Ambassador of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to China, and Mr. Li Tao, Counselor of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. Representatives from China and ASEAN Member States attended the Meeting. 

The JEB Meeting deliberated on the Annual Report of ACC of 2014, the Annual Plan of Operation and Work Programme for FY 2015 , as well as the Proposed Budget of Operational Expenditure of ACC in the Year of 2015, and made recommendations to and preparations for the Joint Council Meeting.

The Joint Council Meeting, convened after the JEB Meeting, was co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Min Lwin, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to ASEAN, and H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to ASEAN. Representatives from China and ASEAN Member States as well as ASEAN Secretariat attended the JC Meeting.

H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping congratulated ACC for its fruitful achievements in 2014 in promoting ASEAN-China cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, education, culture, tourism, press and public relations, with pragmatic content and prominent outcomes. She expressed that ACC’s work has been supporting implementation of the major initiatives of ASEAN-China cooperation, substantially promoted functional cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between ASEAN and China, and were fully recognized and applauded by both sides. She reaffirmed that China has attached great importance to ACC and wished ACC could make even more contribution to ASEAN-China relations. 

H.E. Mr. Min Lwin and other participants from ASEAN applauded ACC Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang and his team in which the representatives are both from ASEAN and China for their hard work and dedication towards fulfilling the mandates of ACC, as a one-stop information and activities centre to enhance friendship, cooperation and connectivity between ASEAN and China. 

Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang expressed his heartfelt appreciation to all 11 member countries of the Centre for their strong support to the ACC Secretariat. He reaffirmed ACC’s commitment to further facilitate ASEAN-China cooperation in the five priority areas, and ACC as a bridge to connect the peoples of ASEAN and China for better understanding and friendship. 

The JC Meeting held a constructive discussion on the future of ACC, and agreed in principle that a mid-term review of ACC’s work would be conducted in the first half of 2015, so as to take stock of ACC’s experience and achievements during the past 3 years, and put forward suggestions to further improve ACC’s work. Among many interesting matters, the Meeting also had a very preliminary discussion on the status of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Establishing the ASEAN-China Centre between the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Government of the People's Republic of China, signed in 2009, so as to further increase the efficiency of the ACC.

The JC Meeting adopted the Annual Report of ACC of 2014, approved in principle the Proposed Budget of Operational Expenditure of ACC in the Year of 2015, and suggested to further consider, consolidate and approve the Annual Plan of Operation and Work Programme for FY 2015 by January 2015. The Meeting agreed to convene the 5th Meeting of the Joint Council of ACC in the last quarter of 2015.