On 22 December 2020, the signing ceremony of Memorandum of Cooperation between ASEAN-China Centreand Dezhou Municipal People’s Governmentwas held. Mr. Chen Dehai, Secretary-General of ACC, and Mr. Yang Hongtao, Deputy Secretary of Dezhou Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Dezhou City, signed the memorandum on behalf of the two sides. Mr. Sun Yebao, Deputy Director-General of Foreign Affairs Office of Shandong Province, Mr. Liu Changmin, Member of the Standing Committee of Dezhou Municipal Party Committee and Executive Vice Mayor of Dezhou, Ms. Zhou Hui, Deputy Director of Education, Culture and Tourism Division of ACC, and Mr. Wang Shengqiang, Secretary-General of Dezhou Municipal Government were present. 

Chen Dehai said that in 2021, whichmarks the ASEAN-China Year of Sustainable Development, ACC will join hands with Dezhou to further strengthen communication and mutually beneficial cooperation between governments, enterprises, business associations and educational institutions of the two sides. He also noted that the two sides should take the signing of the Memorandum as an opportunity to deepen and elevate exchanges and practical cooperation to a new level. 

Yang Hongtao spoke highly of ACC’s important contributions to deepening the friendly exchanges and cooperation between China and ASEAN in the fields of trade, investment, education, culture, tourism, and information and media. He said that Dezhou counted on ACC’s support to engage in BRI international cooperation, and deepen all-round cooperation with ASEAN Member States (AMS) in various fields such as economy and trade, innovation and people-to-people exchanges. 

According to the Memorandum, ACC and Dezhou Municipal Government will establish a long-term communication mechanism for regular exchanges and information sharing, with a view to deepening friendly exchanges between Dezhou and AMS in various fields by facilitating business matching and cooperation between chambers of commerce and enterprises from the two sides.