Opening Ceremony of ASEAN-Jiangsu Exchanges Week and Symposium on ASEAN-Jiangsu Local Cooperation Successfully Held

On 16 December 2021, co-hosted by the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) and the Foreign Affairs Office of Jiangsu Provincial Government, the opening ceremony of ASEAN-Jiangsu Exchanges Week and Symposium on ASEAN-Jiangsu Local Cooperation was successfully held both online and offline in Nanjing (Jiangsu Province), Beijing, Shanghai and relevant ASEAN Member States (AMS). 

Mr. Fei Gaoyun, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Jiangsu Committee and Executive Vice Governor of Jiangsu, Mr. Ekkaphab Phanthavong, ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General, Mr. Liu Jinsong, Director-General of the Asian Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Mr.Chen Dehai, Secretary-General of ACC, and Mr. Ninh Thanh Cong, Consul General of Viet Nam to Shanghai delivered speeches. Mr. Huang Lan, Deputy Secretary General of Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government presided over the opening ceremony. Over 300 people attended the event, including officials from the Publicity Department of CPC Jiangsu Committee, Jiangsu Provincial Departments of Education, Culture and Tourism, Commerce and Foreign Affairs Office, representatives of AMS embassies and consulates in China, ASEAN and Jiangsu entrepreneurs and business chambers, leaders of universities and colleges, experts and scholars from think tanks. 

Executive Vice Governor Fei Gaoyun stated that this year marks the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations. Over the past 30 years, ASEAN and Jiangsu have carried out fruitful cooperation in various fields and made remarkable achievements. ASEAN has become Jiangsu’s third largest trading partner. Jiangsu’s investment in ASEAN accounts for more than 1/8 of China’s investment in ASEAN while ASEAN’s investment in Jiangsu accounts for 1/5 of ASEAN’s investment in China. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, ASEAN and Jiangsu have donated pandemic prevention supplies to each other, carried out remote diagnose and treatment, and helped enterprises resume work and production. Jiangsu will fully implement the spirit of President Xi Jinping’s speech at the ASEAN-China Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations, seize the opportunity of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), synergize the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework with the development plan of Jiangsu, and deepen communication and cooperation with AMS in local exchanges, economic, trade and investment, youth, people-to-people and culture, etc. Jiangsu will promote regional integrated development and people’s well-being, provide new motives and make new contributions to the development of ASEAN-China relations.

Deputy Secretary-General Ekkaphab Phanthavong stressed in his video speech that ASEAN and China have continued to deepen mutual beneficial cooperation, jointly promote regional peace, stability, development and prosperity over the past 30 years. Upon the occasion celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN-China dialogue relations, the two sides reaffirmed their readiness to strengthen practical cooperation in various fields. Facing challenges brought by COVID-19, ASEAN and China have promoted solidarity and cooperation, actively conducted people-to-people and cultural exchanges, enhanced friendship and jointly propelled economic recovery. The ASEAN Secretariat especially thanked ACC for its unremitting efforts in enhancing people-to-people and cultural exchanges over the past 10 years since its establishment. The ASEAN Secretariat also thanked Jiangsu Province and ACC for organising this exchanges week. He believed that this event would further deepen dialogues, exchanges, experience sharing and practical cooperation between ASEAN and China, so as to promote the steady development of ASEAN-China relations.

Director-General Liu Jinsong stated in his speech that,since the establishment of ASEAN-China dialogue relations 30 years ago, the two sides have taken the lead in East Asia Cooperation, and set the most vibrant, fruitful and promising model for cooperation, which is in line with the fundamental interest of 2 billion people in the 11 countries. ASEAN and Jiangsu have a long history of friendly exchanges. The voyages of Chinese navigator Zheng He and the visit of Sultan Borneo to China fully mirrored the traditional friendship between peoples of ASEAN and China. In recent years, Jiangsu has seized the historical opportunity of the development of ASEAN-China relations, has given full play to its advantages in economy, industry and culture, and actively promoted local exchanges and cooperation with AMS. ASEAN has become an important region for the Bringing In and Going Global strategy of Jiangsu, and a partner in foreign trade with the fastest growth rate. The two sides have carried out exchanges and cooperation in fields such as fighting against pandemic, education, culture, tourism and sports, which has strengthened people-to-people ties and improved people’s well-being. China will continue to fully apply new development philosophy, accelerate the building a new development paradigm and deepen reform and opening up, which will provide more opportunities to the development of ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and broaden the space for closer cooperation between ASEAN and China, including Jiangsu.

Secretary-General Chen Dehai stressed in his speech that this year marks the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations. At the ASEAN-China Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary, leaders of AMS and China  officially announced the establishment of ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which is a new milestone in history and unveils a new chapter in the development of ASEAN-China relations. Jiangsu Province is not only one of the birthplaces of ancient Chinese civilisation, but also one of the provinces with highest level of comprehensive development in China today. AMS are preferential destinations for Jiangsu enterprises when they plan to invest abroad. They are also important partners of Jiangsu’s foreign trade with fastest growth. As an intergovernmental organisation co-founded by AMS and China, ACC has dedicated to promoting friendly exchanges and practical cooperation between the two sides in various fields. ACC will keep fulfilling the important consensus reached by leaders of ASEAN and China. Taking the opportunity of co-organising the ASEAN-Jiangsu Exchanges Week, ACC will make unremitting efforts to deepen exchanges and cooperation between AMS and Jiangsu Province.

The opening ceremony released several ASEAN-Jiangsu collaboration programmes, including the first Confucius Institute for Vocational Education, ASEAN-China Chemical Professionals Training and Exchange Center, ASEAN-Jiangsu Traditional Medicine Talent Training and Exchange Center, vocational education cooperation initiatives between AMS and Jiangsu, and the cross-border e-commerce cooperation project between AMS and Nanjing Vocational University of Industry Technology. 

The Symposium on ASEAN-Jiangsu Local Cooperation was carried out after the opening ceremony. Ms. Zin Mar Htwe, Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister Counsellor of Myanmar Embassy in Beijing delivered a video speech under the theme of ASEAN-Jiangsu cooperation prospects.

Ms. Wang Hongliu, Director of the General Affairs and Coordination Division of ACC, Mrs. Natthira Krasaesarn, Minister-Counsellor of Royal Thai Embassy in China, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan, Counsellor of Embassy of Viet Nam in China, as well as Consuls General of Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand in Shanghai, representatives of Embassies of Brunei, Singapore, Cambodia and other AMS in Beijing, officials from relevant Jiangsu provincial departments, representatives of entrepreneurs, experts and scholars from universities and colleges attended the opening ceremony and the symposium. Participants exchanged ideas on two-way investment opportunities after the entry-into-force of RCEP, and the integrated development of the enterprise investing abroad and local governments. All participants expressed their common wishes of deepening cooperation.

As one of the series events commemorating the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations, ASEAN-Jiangsu Exchanges Week was held in Jiangsu Province and online from 14 to 31 December with the theme of “Openness, Inclusiveness, Mutual Support and Jointly Build A New Pattern for ASEAN-Jiangsu Local Cooperation”. The exchanges week also comprised themed activities including ASEAN-Jiangsu Cultural Exhibition, ASEAN Youth Jiangsu Study Tour, LMC Health Forum & Jiangsu LMC Day, China-ASEAN Cooperation Dialogue Conference from the Perspective of Higher Vocational Education, the 5th ASEAN-China Youth Forum and Indonesian Cultural Heritage Exhibition.