On the morning of 23 August 2022, the Opening Ceremony of 2022 China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week (2022 CAECW) with the theme of “Jointly Building an Amicable Home for a Colorful Future” was successfully held in Guiyang. Ms. Sun Chunlan, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council of China, Ms. Sara Zimmerman Duterte-Carpio, Vice President and Education Minister of the Philippines, Mr. Bin Chhin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Cabinet Office of Cambodia and Mr. Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of ASEAN, addressed the opening ceremony via video. Ms. Shen Yiqin, Secretary of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and Chairperson of the Standing Committee of Guizhou Provincial People’s Congress, attended and announced the opening of 2022 CAECW. Mr. Li Bingjun, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and Governor of Guizhou Province, delivered a welcoming speech. Dr. Huai Jinpeng, Minister of Education of China, attended the Beijing Branch. 

On the afternoon of 23 August 2022, The Seminar on Cross-border E-commerce Promoting Mekong Countries’ Economic and Trade Development was successfully held. The seminar aims to strengthen the cooperation between Mekong countries and Guizhou Province in fields of E-commerce, digital economy and E-commerce vocational education, and explore new channels of E-commerce cooperation. Mr. Wang Fukang, Ambassador of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China (China MFA), Mr. Zhang Hanlin, Director-General of the Foreign Affairs Office of Guizhou Provincial Government (Guizhou FAO), and Ms. Li Yaying, Deputy Director of the Education, Culture and Tourism Division (ECTD) of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), attended and addressed the seminar. Education officials of embassies of Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao PDR and other ASEAN Member States (AMS) in China attended the event upon invitation.

Ms. Li Yaying stated that cross-border E-commerce has significantly changed traditional trade and become a driving force for digital trade and economy. It is hoped that all participants would actively explore new opportunities, paths and patterns of E-commerce cooperation between Mekong countries and Guizhou Province, and further promote collaboration in fields of education and socio-economic development to a new level.

On the morning of 24 August, the 2022 China-ASEAN Vocational Education Forum and Exhibition of Successful TVET Cooperative Programs co-organised by ACC and the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) was successfully held. Mr. Zong Wa, Former Deputy Secretary-General of CEAIE and Former Education Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of China in Australia, Ms. Li Yaying, Deputy Director of ECTD of ACC, Mr. Jia Peng, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education of China (China MoE), attended and addressed the forum offline and online.

Ms. Li Yaying stated that promoting vocational education exchanges and cooperation is one of ACC’s Flagship Programmes. ACC is ready to work with relevant parties to promote in-depth vocational education exchanges and cooperation, improve the internationalisation level and core competitiveness of vocational colleges of both sides, and make greater contributions to economic and social development and people-to-people exchanges.

Mr. Zong Wa, Ms. Li Yaying, Mr. Yaya Sutarya, Education and Culture Attaché of the Embassy of Indonesia in China, and Mr. Chindavong Xaiyasin, Education and Culture Counsellor of the Embassy of Lao PDR in China, awarded the 5th Batch of China-ASEAN 100+100 Institutional Cooperation Flagship Programs.

CAECW is an important intergovernmental education-themed platform for people-to-people exchanges between AMS and China, which serves as an important bridge for cooperation in fields of education, science and technology, culture, health, sports, media and youth exchanges. 2022 CAECW is co-hosted by China MFA, China MoE and Guizhou Provincial Government, and co-organised by ACC and Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization. During 2022 CAECW, 37 opening activities and 57 annual activities have been held around themes of Sustainable Educational Development Cooperation, Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Youth Cross-cultural Exchanges.