On 24 February 2017, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Center (ACC), met with Dr. Wei Yong, Chairman of Hainan Tropical Ocean University (HTOU) Council in Sanya. Dr. Liao Minsheng, Vice-president of HTOU, Ms. Wei Jing, Director of Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, Mr. Zhang Yan, Director of the Asia-Pacific Financial Research Institute, Ms. Shan Yan, Dean of School of Foreign Languages and International Cultural Exchange from the university, and Mr. Zhang Xuehai, Deputy Director of the Information and Public Relations Division and Educational Officer Ms. Zhang Jing of ACC attended the meeting.

Dr. Wei Yong introduced the history, development and future planning of Hainan Tropical Ocean University. Founded in 1954, HTOU is a state-owned university jointly constructed by Hainan Provincial People’s Government, the State Oceanic Administration of China, the National Offshore Oil Corporation and Sanya Municipal People’s Government. It is regarded as one of the “China-ASEAN Education and Training Centers” by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Education and “Educational Aid Centers” by the Ministry of Education. HTOU now possesses 12 faculties offering 1 MTA (Master of Tourism Administration) program, 44 undergraduate programs and 12 post-secondary programs. Its educational disciplines have expanded into 10 fields which are Liberal Arts, Sciences, Engineering, Management, Law, History, Agriculture, Education, Philosophy and Oceanology. As an ocean university, HTOU has established 15 marine-related majors and determined 6 key discipline directions namely Marine History, Marine Tourism, Marine Management, Marine Food, Marine Information and Marine Biology, Ecology and Environment. Aiming to develop into an international, open, application-oriented, featured and high-level tropical ocean university, HTOU makes full use of the geographical advantages and opportunities brought by Sanya City - an open and international tourism city and implements the international development strategy of “Running the University Openly and Steadily”. 26 cooperation agreements have been signed between HTOU and 22 university and educational institutions from 9 ASEAN countries. China-ASEAN University Presidents Forum was successfully held at HTOU in 2016 with the support of ACC. In the future, HTOU will further develop the cooperation with ASEAN countries in the fields of marine studies, tourism education, student cultivation, and personnel training, making more contribution to the construction of Hainan International Tourism Island and the educational cooperation between China and ASEAN countries.

Secretary-General Yang Xiuping briefed the achievements ACC has made over the past 5 years in implementing consensus of leaders and promoting pragmatic cooperation in various fields, particularly in the educational field. She indicated that education closely relates to the long-term development of a country and its future generations, and is also one of the fields with most priority of ACC. HTOU has laid solid foundation in cooperating with ASEAN universities. Upon the backdrop of 2017 as the ASEAN-China Tourism Cooperation Year, HTOU should seize the opportunities brought by the bilateral cooperation mechanism in tourism, open up new cooperation fields and further promote people-to-people exchanges between China and ASEAN countries. ACC will continue to act as a platform and a bridge, and to collaborate with universities, so as to further promote educational exchange and cooperation and bilateral relations between ASEAN and China.