On 28 December 2016, ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) Secretary-General H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping attended Jinan-ASEAN Cooperation Meeting in Jinan, Shandong province. Mr. Geng Jianxin, Deputy Secretary-General of Jinan Municipal People’s Government hosted the meeting. Heads of government sectors and enterprises including Jinan Foreign Affairs Office, Jinan Bureau of Commerce, Jinan Tourism Development Commission, Jinan Bureau of Investment Promotion, Jinan Sub-Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Jinan Bureau of Education, Jinan Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film, Television, Press and Publication, Linuo Group Co., Ltd, Runh Power, Qingong International Group and Jiahua International Tour Agency, as well as Mr. Zhang Xuehai, Deputy Director of Information and Public Relations Division of ACC attended the meeting.

SG Yang Xiuping introduced the development of ASEAN-China dialogue relations and the work of ACC. She said that since ASEAN and China started their relations in 1991, the functional cooperation has achieved fruitful results. The cooperation and exchanges in many areas, namely, trade, investment, education, culture and tourism have kept deepening, and people-to-people exchanges have become more frequent. ACC is devoted to implementing the important consensus reached by the leaders of both sides, making every effort to facilitate functional cooperation, and promote the cooperation among local provinces and cities. Jinan has a complete industry chain, developed financial service and solid foundation of logistics and science and technology innovation capability. ACC will continue to support the cooperation between Jinan and ASEAN, to find more common interests, and make ASEAN-China cooperation benefits to all.

Secretary-General Geng Jianxin thanked SG Yang Xiuping for her comprehensive introduction, highly valued ACC’s work in promoting ASEAN-China functional cooperation, and hoped that ACC could continue to support Jinan-ASEAN cooperation.

The heads of Jinan government sectors introduced their cooperation with ASEAN in their own area, and expressed their expectations for ACC. Jinan Sub-Council for the Promotion of International Trade said the Sub-Council was committed to promote economic and trade cooperation between Jinan and ASEAN enterprises, by organizing enterprises to attend trade fairs in ASEAN countries and other activities. The Sub-Council hoped to strengthen its tie with ACC to get more business information on ASEAN countries, with a view to broadening the channel for Jinan enterprises to go into ASEAN. Jinan Bureau of Commerce said that, from January to November 2016, Jinan’s investment in ASEAN reached 126 million USD, which was still at an initial stage. The Bureau hoped to realize targeted matching between the industries of Jinan and ASEAN and strengthen investment cooperation with the support of ACC. Jinan Bureau of Investment Promotion said that currently, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei have investment projects in Jinan, mainly in the areas of food industry and logistics. The Bureau would like to follow ACC’s suggestions on attracting more investment from ASEAN. Jinan Tourism Development Commission said that Jinan is the origin of China Confucian Culture. The “Confucius Cultural Tourism” has special charming. The Commission hoped to get more involved in tourist activities in ASEAN countries, in which they can tell Jinan stories and therefore promote Jinan tourism resources. Jinan Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film, Television, Press and Publication said that Jinan is rich in traditional culture and has developed unique cultural projects. The Bureau hoped to strengthen its cultural exchanges with ASEAN countries, to lay a solid foundation for people-to-people friendship. Jinan Bureau of Education hoped to broaden inter-school cooperation by promoting Chinese language, to strengthen youth exchanges. The enterprises introduced their operation and cooperation with ASEAN countries. They expressed the wish to further enhance cooperation with ASEAN on ACC’s platform.

SG Yang Xiuping had active discussion with the attendees on the topics of Jinan-ASEAN production capacity cooperation, mutual investment, building up information platform, strengthening e-commerce cooperation, deepening Jinan-ASEAN education cooperation, promoting ASEAN tourism resources in Jinan and pushing for cultural cooperation, and so on.

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