On 1 July, Secretary General Shi Zhongjun of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) visited Taiyuan of Shanxi Province, where he met with Mr. Wu Wei, Member of the Standing Committee of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and Executive Deputy Governor of Shanxi Province, and both sides exchanged views on the preparations for the ASEAN-China Week (ACW) 2024 events. 

Shi Zhongjun stated that, as a highlight under the framework of the 2024 ASEAN-China Year of People-to-people Exchanges and the ACC’s annual flagship project, the ACW not only helps promote sincere friendship and deepen practical cooperation between ASEAN and China, and consolidate ASEAN-China comprehensive strategic partnership, but also greatly promotes better opening up and promotion of local provinces of China including Shanxi, and facilitates their friendly exchanges and cooperation with ASEAN member states (AMS). The ACC stands ready to work with Shanxi to ensure a successful and fruitful delivery of ACW2024 events.

Wu Wei sincerely thanked the ACC for bringing ACW2024 to Shanxi. With a long history and profound culture, Shanxi stands out as one of the cradles of the Chinese civilization. Shanxi is now striving to promote economic transformation, materialize the concept of green and low-carbon development, deeply tap potential of cultural tourism, and build up an inland opening-up highland. Enjoying cultural affinity and time-honored friendship with China, ASEAN should be viewed as an important party for Shanxi's opening up and international cooperation. Shanxi looks forward to exploring more possibilities of cooperation in emerging fields, and enriching people-to-people exchanges with AMS, and contributing to long-term growth of China-ASEAN relations through successful ACW2024 activities in Shanxi.  

On the same day, Shi Zhongjun held a tripartite working meeting with Director General Dong Xiaolin of Foreign Affairs Office of Shanxi Province and Mayor Chen Xiangyang of Changzhi City for in-depth discussions on making preparations for ACW2024.