On 17 April 2017, ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) Secretary-General H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping exchanged views with Mr. Wu Yibiao, Deputy Director-General of Hunan Provincial Foreign Affairs (Overseas Chinese Affairs) Office. Mme. Liu Yuxia, Director of International Exchange Division of the office, and Mr. Zhang Xuehai, Deputy Director of Information and Public Relations Division of ACC, attended the meeting.

On behalf of Hunan Provincial Foreign Affairs (Overseas Chinese Affairs) Office, Deputy Director-General Wu welcomed Secretary-General Yang and ASEAN Journalist Delegation, and introduced foreign exchanges and cooperation of Hunan province, especially those with ASEAN Member States. He expressed that Hunan has close contacts and frequent high-level exchanges with ASEAN Member States. Hunan has formed Sister-City (Province) Partnerships with four counterparts in Viet Nam, and signed the letter of intent on such partnership with related provinces and cities in Malaysia and Lao PDR. Furthermore, Hunan has launched the flights to Lao PDR, Singapore, Thailand, etc., and developed fruitful cooperation with Cambodia, Thailand, Lao PDR and other ASEAN Member States in trade, agriculture, architecture, etc. He also opined that, based on Hunan’s strengths in the fields of modern manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, etc., he would like to continuously deepen the bilateral exchanges and increase the level of bilateral practical cooperation with ASEAN Member States through the unique platform provided by ACC.

Secretary-General Yang briefed the mandate and recent work of ACC. She also opined that ACC, as an intergovernmental organization founded by China and ASEAN Member States, dedicates itself to fascinating bilateral friendly exchanges and practical cooperation in trade, investment, education, culture, tourism and media, etc. In recent years, under the cooperation with the State Council Information Office, ACC has organized several reporting trips by ASEAN journalists to China to conduct interviews under the theme of “China-ASEAN Jointly Building 21st Century Maritime Silk Road”. Meanwhile, ACC also organized Chinese journalists to visit ASEAN Member States to conduct in-depth coverage of fruitful socio-economic achievements of ASEAN Member States and promising future of bilateral cooperation, which has played an important role of improving bilateral collaborations and mutual understanding. As this year marks the 50th anniversary of ASEAN and the Year of China-ASEAN Tourism Cooperation, ACC and the State Council Information Office are co-organizing the 3rd reporting trip themed “China-ASEAN Jointly Building 21st Century Maritime Silk Road”, and selected Hunan province as the first stop of the trip in hope of further increasing the influence and popularity of Hunan in ASEAN Member States and opening up new vistas of friendly exchanges between Hunan and ASEAN Member States.