On 20 September 2017, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), met with Ms. Song Liping, Director-General of Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Henan Province. Mr. Yang Jianwei, Director of the International Exchanges Division, Ms. Tong Yufei, Deputy Director of the International Exchanges Division, and Mr. Zhang Xuehai, Deputy Director of Information and Public Relations Division of ACC, attended the meeting.

Director-General Song Liping briefed on the economic and social development as well as foreign exchanges of Henan. She said as an important Chinese province which is large in population, economic volume and rich in agriculture and culture, Henan enjoys a strategic location and advantage in agriculture, production capacity, traditional Chinese medicine and culture. Henan keeps deepening exchanges with ASEAN countries in recent years and has established Sister Province relations with Dong Thap province of Viet Nam, Chonburi province of Thailand, Tarlac province of the Philippines, Maluku province of Indonesia, and Kandal province and Kampong Cham province of Cambodia. Fruitful results have been achieved in cooperating with ASEAN countries in the fields of agriculture, students mobility, cultural exchanges, etc. Henan will continue to harness its advantages in culture, tourism, agriculture and medicine, through platforms like China (Henan) International Investment and Trade Expo, to realize more achievements in the friendly exchanges and practical cooperation with ASEAN. In this regard, Henan looks forward to ACC’s continued support and assistance.

Secretary-General Yang Xiuping spoke highly of the fruitful results Henan achieved in exchanging with ASEAN countries. She briefed on ACC’s mandate and recent work, especially the efforts ACC made to highlight the 50th anniversary of ASEAN and the ASEAN-China Year of Tourism Cooperation in 2017. She said thatASEAN-China relations have developed fast and the all-round cooperation keeps deepening. Currently, both sides are jointly building the Belt and Road. The year of 2018 will be the 15th anniversary of ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership. All these have brought new opportunities to the development of ASEAN-China relations. ACC vigorously supports ASEAN-China cooperation at local level and would continue to serve as a bridge and bond in expanding cooperation with ASEAN for Chinese provinces including Henan. She hoped that Henan would continue to harness its advantages, find the matching point for cooperation and realize win-win results and common development to benefit both peoples.