On 9 January 2024, the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) and the International Confucian Association (ICA) co-hosted the 2024 Harmony and Cooperation New Year Concert at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA). Secretary General Shi Zhongjun of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) and Secretary General Jia Deyong of the ICA addressed the event. Around 400 guests from ASEAN and China attended the event, including Ambassador Jaime FlorCruz of the Philippines to China, Charge d’ Affaires Benjamin Sukanjanajtee of the Royal Thai Embassy in China, Deputy Chief of Mission Parulian George Andreas Silalahi of Indonesia Embassy in China, as well as representatives from the embassies of Brunei, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar and Viet Nam, Vice President Zhu Jing of NCPA, Secretary Wang Xudong of CPC Committee of China Conservatory of Music and friends from relevant organizations and media.

SG Shi stated in his speech that, over the years, ASEAN and China have forged ahead in hand and contributed to each other’s successes. The ACC has orientated itself as an efficient platform and facilitating bridge between ASEAN and China since its establishment, and has always been striving to be committed to promoting friendly exchanges and practical cooperation between ASEAN and China. The year of 2024 is designated as “the ASEAN-China Year of People-to-people Exchanges”, the ACC would like to collaborate more actively with all our partners and friends to further enhance people-to-people exchanges, and to promote the pursuit of mutual learning for the peoples from both ASEAN Member States and China.

SG Jia said that the concept was named after “Harmony and Cooperation”, expressing the good wish of promoting friendly cooperation and realizing win-win results with the concept of “harmony”. Since its foundation almost 30 years ago, ICA has always been committed to being an inheritor of Confucianism and fine traditional cultures, a guardian of the world cultural diversity, and a practitioner of the dialogue among civilizations. Let us work hand in hand to draw a shared picture of human civilization, and contribute to promoting the inheritance and development of Chinese culture, promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations and people-to-people exchanges, and building a community with a shared future for mankind.

The guests visited the cultural exchanges activities and art exhibition at the NCPA. The traditional Chinese Paintings exhibited such as Lao Tzu’s Exit Map by Fan Zeng and Willow Cattle by Qi Baishi conveyed the strong New Year atmosphere and the beauty of oriental arts. Classic Chinese and ASEAN music was presented by the artists of the China Conservatory Traditional Orchestra at the concert. The wonderful performance won warm praise and applause from the audience. In a delightful atmosphere, the guests enjoyed beautiful calligraphy and melodious music, and shared views on the bright future of friendly exchanges and cooperation.