H.E. Mr. Chen Dehai, the new Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), arrived at the ACC Secretariat on 2 July 2018, and was warmly greeted by all the officials and staff of ACC. Ms. Mao Ning, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of China, accompanied Secretary-General Chen to the ACC Secretariat.

A welcoming ceremony was held at the ACC Secretariat. In her remarks, Deputy Director-General Mao opined that being the only inter-governmental organization jointly established by ASEAN and China, ACC has achieved tremendously since its inauguration in 2011, which has been acknowledged by the leaders and people from various sectors of the 11 countries. Mr. Chen’s diplomatic career has been posted in several ASEAN nations and is regarded as a capable senior diplomat with outstanding leadership and teamwork spirit. This year marks the 15th anniversary of ASEAN-China strategic partnership and ASEAN-China Year of Innovation. She is confident that under the leadership of Secretary-General Chen Dehai, ACC will make itself a more prominent organization and contribute more to ASEAN-China relations. The Chinese MFA would continue to give its full support to the ACC Secretariat and its new Secretary-General in their future work.

Secretary-General Chen, in his remarks, extended his appreciation to the trust and support rendered by the governments of ASEAN Member States and China. He spoke highly of the fruitful achievements of ASEAN-China relations and the important role ACC has played in promoting all-round practical cooperation between ASEAN and China. He expressed the readiness to build on the solid foundation laid by his predecessors, and work with all the colleagues at ACC to continue to bridge over the government and private sector and spare no efforts in advocating cooperation in areas of trade, investment, education, culture, tourism and information and media, and to enhance mutual understanding and friendship among the peoples of both sides so as to contribute to the development of ASEAN-China relations in the new era.

As approved by ACC Joint Council, H.E. Mr. Chen Dehai’s tenure as the third Secretary-General of ACC is three years starting from 1 July 2018.