On 27 December 2016, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), met with Mr. Geng Jianxin, Deputy Secretary-General of Jinan Municipal People’s Government. Mr. Zhang Guangyu, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Jinan, Mr. Zhang Xuehai, Deputy Director of Information and Public Relations Division of ACC, and other officials attended the meeting.

Mr. Geng elaborated on the exchanges between Jinan City and ASEAN countries. He said that Jinan City is committed to reform and opening-up and is fostering an integrated, open environment for mutually beneficial cooperation. It is actively engaged in exchanges and cooperation with ASEAN countries in various areas such as trade, investment, education, culture and tourism. As of November 2016, Jinan’s trade and investment with ASEAN had reached USD 1.17 billion and USD 126 million respectively. It had attracted 113 investment projects from ASEAN countries with USD 700 million foreign investment and more than USD 400 million foreign investment in actual use. ASEAN is one of the biggest sources of tourists for Jinan City. In 2015, Jinan received 35,000 inbound visitors from ASEAN countries and provided 247,000 outbound visitors to ASEAN countries via travel agencies. Thus, there remains huge untapped potential for further cooperation between Jinan City and ASEAN. It is hoped that Jinan will make good use of the ACC platform to deepen its exchanges with ASEAN and open up more to the world.

Secretary-General Yang thanked Jinan City Government for its warm hospitality and highly appreciated Jinan City’s commitment to exchanges and cooperation with ASEAN. She said that Jinan, a major city on China’s east coast, enjoys favorable geographical location and great complementarity and cooperation potential with ASEAN countries. ACC is ready to strengthen contact with Jinan City and facilitate mutually beneficial cooperation between Jinan and ASEAN in line with the actual needs of both sides.

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