On 20 April 2023, H.E. Secretary General Shi Zhongjun of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) met with H.E. Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, Minister of Education, Youth and Sport of Cambodia, in Phnom Penh.

Secretary General Shi Zhongjun said that, as an intergovernmental international organization jointly established by 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS) and China, the ACC has always been committed to promoting education and sports cooperation and youth exchanges between both sides, which contributes a lot to the building of ASEAN social and cultural community. In the post-epidemic era, the ACC stands ready to bring into full play its role as a linking bridge and platform to help meet cooperation demands from Cambodia and other AMS in such fields as education, sports and youth exchanges through implementing customized and tailor-made projects, so as to serve an increasingly deepened people-to-people ties between both sides and enrich the people-centred connotation of ASEAN-China comprehensive strategic partnership. 

Minister Hang Chuon Naron said that, hailed as good brothers and iron-clad friends, Cambodia and China have been conducting good cooperation and exchanges in fields of education, sports and youth, which makes the bilateral friendship even fonder and the momentum stronger in building Cambodia-China community with a shared future. The Chinese language learning has been integrated into the national education system of Cambodia, and the young talents in this regard are badly needed for the post-pandemic recovery. In this sense, the in-depth cooperation between the two countries in Chinese education boasts enormous potential. Cambodia will host 2023 Southeast Asian Games soon and looks forward to learning from China, as a major countries with sharp edge in sports, in hosting big sport events. Cambodia is also willing to utilize the ACC platform to explore potential youth dialogue among AMS and China so as to add more strength to long-term growth of ASEAN-China relations.