On 7 December 2022, the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) hosted the ASEAN-China Dialogue on Interpretation of the Report to 20th CPC National Congress at the ACC Secretariat. The offline event was attended by around 30 people, including H.E. Mr. Shi Zhongjun, Secretary-General of ACC, H.E. Raja Dato’ Nushirwan Zainal Abidin, Ambassador of Malaysia to China, Mr. Sreng Sataro, DCM of the Royal Cambodian Embassy in China, Mr. Dino R. Kusnadi, DCM of the Embassy of Indonesia in China, Mrs. Natthira Krasaesarn, Minister Counsellor of the Royal Thai Embassy in China, Mr. Lin Jiayi, Political Counsellor of the Embassy of Singapore in China, and representatives of Embassies of Lao PDR, the Philippines, Viet Nam as well as ASEAN media. Representatives of Embassies of Brunei and Myanmar in China attended the dialogue online. Ms. Wang Hongliu, Director of the General Affairs and Coordination Division of ACC and Mr. Fang Qiang, Deputy Director of the Information and Public Relations Division of ACC, attended the offline event.

Secretary-General Shi Zhongjun said in his remarks that the report to the 20th CPC National Congress has set up overall policies and development goals for the CPC and the country in the next five years and beyond. The interpretation event hosted by ACC aims at helping Embassies of ASEAN Member States (AMS) and ASEAN media in China have a better understanding of the content of the report and development trends of China. In future, ACC will continue to hold similar activities to actively promote the communication and mutual understanding on major policies of ASEAN and China, in an effort to ensure the continuous and in-depth development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two sides.

Mr. Liu Jinsong, Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Mr. Xu Bu, President of the China Institute of International Studies, Mr. Zhang Shiyi, Director and Researcher of the Sixth Division of the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee, Mr. Song Yang, Associate Dean of the Institute for Common Prosperity and Professor in the School of Economics of Renmin University of China, and Mr. Zhang Jianping, Director of the Center for Regional Economic Cooperation, Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of Ministry of Commerce of China, were invited as keynote speakers. They made a comprehensive interpretation of the report under five subjects, including the main content and significance of the report, China’s diplomacy, especially its neighbourhood diplomacy, China’s economy and finance, and China’s opening-up, and answered questions from audience.

AMS Embassy and ASEAN media representatives in China thanked ACC for successfully holding the offline dialogue under the leadership of Secretary-General Shi Zhongjun. They noted that the event was timely and informative, which was very inspiring. Mr. Dino R. Kusnadi, DCM of the Embassy of Indonesia in China, delivered a speech on behalf of the AMS Embassies, saying that the interpretation of the report will help ASEAN diplomats in China, especially young diplomats, to better understand the background and objectives of China’s policies and better promote the development of bilateral relations. He hoped that ACC could hold more similar activities in the future.