On 26 December 2017, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), met with Mr. Song Xibin, Mayor of Harbin City. Mr. Fang Zhenghui, Municipal Secretary-General and Director of the General Office, Mr. Song Xiangdong, Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs of Harbin, Mr. Zhang Xuehai, Deputy Director of Information and Public Relations Division of ACC, and Mr. Chen Kesong, Tourism Official of ACC, attended the meeting.

Mayor Song Xibin warmly welcomed the delegation of ASEAN-China Youth Winter Camp led by Secretary-General Yang Xiuping to visit Harbin, and briefed on the economic and social development of Harbin as well as cooperation and exchanges with ASEAN countries. He mentioned that Harbin is the regional central city in the northeastern China and the largest city among provincial capitals of China with the third largest population possessing long and rich history and culture, and vibrant economy and society. It was selected as the “East Asia Cultural Capital” together with Kanazawa of Japan and Busan of RoK which was undertaken by the Ministry of Culture of China in August 2017. Harbin has rich tourism resources. As one of the four main ice and snow festivals in the world, the ice and snow festival of Harbin enjoys a good reputation at home and abroad, and attracts a large number of tourists annually. Harbin actively expands international exchanges and cooperation. As of now, it has established sister city relations with 33 cities in 26 countries including Chiangmai of Thailand and Cagayande Oro of the Philippines, and built up economic and trade relations with more than 180 countries and regions. In recent years, ASEAN has a rapid development with upgrading both in international status and influences, and the cooperation with China has been deepened comprehensively. Harbin attaches great importance to developing friendship and cooperation with ASEAN countries. It is expected that with ACC’s facilitation and support, Harbin will further explore the cooperation potentials, enrich the connotation of cooperation and expand exchanges with ASEAN countries in various fields.

Secretary-General Yang thanked Harbin for its substantial supports for the 2017 ASEAN-China Youth Winter Camp and gave a briefing on the development of ASEAN-China relations and ACC’s mandate and work. She stated that the local exchanges and cooperation are important driving forces for the comprehensive and thorough development of ASEAN- China relations, and it is also one of the priorities of ACC. Harbin and ASEAN countries have strong complementarity and great potentials for mutual beneficial cooperation. ACC will continue to strengthen communication with relevant administrations of Harbin and serve as a bridge and bond to offer more facilitation and assistance to Harbin to expand its cooperation with ASEAN countries.