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On 13 February 2017, H.E.Mme.Yang Xiuping,Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre(ACC) had a Meeting with representatives of relevant government sectors of Dezhou City, on the topic of Dezhou-ASEAN cooperation. Ms. Yang Jiuqing, Deputy Mayor of Dezhou moderated the meeting. Ms. Xia Lianhong,?Deputy Secretary-General of DezhouMunicipal Government, Ms. Song Xiaomei, Director of Dezhou Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, as well as representatives from Dezhou Economic and Information Commission,Bureau of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Cooperation,Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film, Television, Press and Publication,?Bureau of Tourism, Sub-Council for the Promotion of International Trade and government of Qihe County attended the meeting. The representatives had active discussions with Secretary-General Yang Xiuping.

Ms. Yang Xiuping briefed the development of the economic and social development of Dezhou, as well as Dezhou-ASEAN cooperation. She mentioned that ASEAN is an important trade partner of Dezhou. In recent years, under the initiative of of “One Belt, One Road” ,Dezhou’s trade and investment cooperation with ASEAN has become closer and closer. The two way trade?volume increased by 24 percent on a year-on-year basis in 2016. Dezhou government attached great importance to its cooperation with ASEAN and implemented the “five-ones” strategy for Dezhou-ASEAN cooperation,namely, (1) make one plan (2)_build one platform (3) establish one mechanism (4) build one zone and (5) set up one fund. Dezhou aimed to upgrade the quality and level of Dezhou-ASEAN cooperation. In the future, she hoped that with the guidance of ACC, Dezhou could strengthen its cooperation with ASEAN so as to achieve a win-win result and bring tangible benefits for the people on both sides.

Secretary-General Yang Xiuping briefly reviewed ASEAN’s development, ASEAN-China practical cooperation and ACC’s mandate, recent work and achievements. She said that the 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, as well as ASEAN-China Tourism Cooperation Year. ASEAN-China practical cooperation brings in new opportunities. ACC will continue to promote the cooperation and communication between ASEAN-China’s local provinces and cities. Dezhou has a long history, beautiful ecological environment and abundant natural resources. In recent years,the cooperation between Dezhou and ASEAN has achieved fruitful results. ACC is willing to further strength the communication with Dezhou, and support Dezhou to seek the right matching points with ASEAN, to enchance the cooperation and push forward ASEAN-China cooperation in an effective way.

Representatives of relevant government sectors introduced the cooperation with ASEAN in their respective fields, and expressed their opinions and suggestions on strengthening Dezhou-ASEAN cooperation. Qihe county introduced plans and progress of “Dezhou-ASEAN International Eco-City”, hoping that ACC could take the project as a platform to hold relevant activities. Sub-Council for the Promotion of International Trade said it would like to participate in the investment missions organized by ACC and help the enterprises to match with relevant industries of ASEAN countries. Bureau of Tourism hoped to publicize Dezhou’s abundant tourism resources on the platform of ACC, to attract more ASEAN visitors. Economic and Information Commission said they would like to know more authoritative channels for ASEAN economic information. Bureau of Commerce would like to know the information on ASEAN’s foreign project contracting and labor cooperation. Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office hoped that ACC could promote ASEAN Committee in Beijing to visit Dezhou, to explore the possibility of cooperation in related fields.

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