On 25 December 2017, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), exchanged views with heads of universities of Jilin province on expanding educational exchanges and cooperation between ASEAN countries and Jilin province in Northeast Normal University (NENU). Attended the meeting over 50 participants from 30 universities including Mr. Su Zhongmin, Deputy Director-General of the Education Department of Jilin Province (EDJP), Mr. Hu Renyou, Director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Department of EDJP, Mr. Han Dongyu, Vice President of NENU, Ms. Zhang Jingping, Director of International Exchange and Cooperation Division of NENU, Mr. Sun Desheng, Deputy Director of International Exchange and Cooperation Division of NENU, Mr. He Ran, Vice President of Changchun University of Science and Technology, Mr. Cao Bingzhi, President of Jilin Railway Technology College, Mr. Wang Jun, Vice President of Changchun Vocational Institute of Technology, Ms. Wang Mei, Vice President of Changchun Institute of Architecture and Mr. Zhang Xuehai, Deputy Director of Information and Public Relations Division of ACC.

Deputy Director-General Su Zhongmin and Vice President Han Dongyu respectively briefed on the education cooperation between ASEAN countries and Jilin provinces well as NENU. They stated that Jilin province has frequent exchanges with ten ASEAN Member States in the area of education. Jilin University and NENU have established various cooperation relations with ASEAN universities. On the platforms of the China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week, ASEAN-China Education and Training Centres, Foreign Aid Training Class of the Ministry of Commerce of China, International Chinese Language Education Northeast Base of NOCFL and Chinese Language Education Base, the universities have vigorously supported ASEAN countries in the development of human resources and actively participated in activities hosted by ACC, constantly strengthened communication with the counterparts of ASEAN countries, and achieved positive outcomes. Currently, Jilin province is willing to expand foreign exchanges and cooperation in education, hoping to attract greater number of ASEAN students to study in Jilin. They wish to gain continuous support and assistance from ACC.

Secretary- General Yang Xiuping gave an overview of the achievements of ASEAN during the past 50 years, the history of ASEAN-China relations and fruitful outcomes of practical cooperation of both sides on the basis of international affairs and Chinese diplomacy. She said since the establishment of dialogue relations in 1991, ASEAN-China political mutual trust has been deepened, practical cooperation intensified and people-to-people exchanges ever closer. ASEAN-China relations have become the most profound and robust relationship that ASEAN has with its dialogue partners. This year marks the 50th anniversary of ASEAN as well as the ASEAN-China Year of Tourism Cooperation. The two sides have held a series of colorful activities. Next year will mark the 15thanniversary of the ASEAN-China strategic partnership and the ASEAN-China Year of Innovation. The two sides are actively synergizing the Belt and Road Initiative and ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025, and jointly formulating the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership Vision 2030, which have opened up new and broader space for the future development of the ASEAN-China relations, and the cooperation in various areas has shown new vigor and vitality.

Secretary-General Yang briefed on the ASEAN-China education exchanges and cooperation and ACC’s relevant efforts. She emphasized that ACC has always been promoting ASEAN-China education exchanges and cooperation as apriority, fully leveraged its advantage to act as a bridge between government departments and education institutions of ASEAN and China. To build long-term cooperation mechanism in education, ACC facilitated the establishment of such platforms as the ASEAN-China Language and Culture Centre, ASEAN-China Consortium for Cooperation in TVET, ASEAN-China Arts Colleges Alliance and China-ASEAN Tourism Education Alliance. It also facilitated the signing of over 450 MoUs among TVET institutions of the two sides and more than 400 ASEAN students are studying in China through various Chinese scholarship programmes. ACC vigorously supported youth exchange, and organized activities such as summer camp, winter camp, youth forum, and youth football match, in order to provide more inheritors for ASEAN-China friendly relations. The relevant work has been widely recognized and praised by all sectors of society, and has made important contributions to promoting the people-to-people exchanges and consolidating the social and public opinion foundation of ASEAN-China relations.

Secretary - General Yang spoke highly of the achievements in higher education of Jilin province and its important role in promoting ASEAN-China education exchanges and cooperation. She commended that Jilin possesses prominent strength in science and education, talent and culture. It has rich education resource with 58 well-known universities such as Northeast Normal University and Jilin University, and a solid foundation to deepen the exchange and cooperation with ASEAN countries. This year, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang put forward the China-ASEAN Human Resource Development Programme, and will invite 3,000 ASEAN visitors to China for study programmes in 2018. In the next three years, China will provide ASEAN countries with no less than 20,000 government scholarships. The two sides adopted the Plan of Action for China-ASEAN Education Cooperation (2017-2020) and are working hard toward the goal of the upgraded "Double 100,000 Student Mobility Programme". She hoped universities of Jilin province could seize the great opportunities, fully play their own advantages, and actively enrich the forms and connotations of expanding cooperation with ASEAN universities, to elevate education exchanges and cooperation with ASEAN countries to a new level, so as to make even bigger contributions to the sustainable and in-depth development of ASEAN-China relations. ACC will continue to serve as a one-stop information and activities centre, and actively provide support and assistance.

The heads of the participating universities highly appreciated ACC’s remarkable efforts in promoting ASEAN-China education exchanges and cooperation, and respectively briefed on their own characteristics and the education cooperation with ASEAN countries, discussed and interacted with Secretary-General Yang on the international joint education programmes, enrollment of ASEAN students, agriculture, rail transit, Chinese traditional medicine, art and other cooperative potentials in a warm atmosphere.

Prior to the discussion, Secretary- General Yang visited the library and other teaching facilities of NENU, and learned about the university’s operations.