On 18 May 2012, The First Meeting of the Joint Council of the ASEAN China Centre was held on 18 May 2011 at the ACC Secretariat in Beijing, China. The Meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Kan Pharidh, Permanent Representative of the Royal Embassy of Cambodia and the Permanent Mission of Cambodia to ASEAN, and H.E. Mme Tong Xiaoling, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to ASEAN. The Meeting was attended by officials from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam and the ASEAN Secretariat.
In her opening remarks, the Co-Chair from China welcomed all the delegates and expressed her high hopes and expectations for the smooth going of the Centre, as an inter-governmental internaitonal organization in promoting ASEAN-China dialogue relations in the areas of trade, investment, educaiton, culture and tourism. She thanked the ASEAN CPR for their contribution to the setting up of the Centre and confirmed the Chinese government’s strong commitment to the Centre and cooperation with the ASEAN Member States in this regard.
The Co-Chair from ASEAN took note of the important role of the Centre in promoting ASEAN-China cooperation. He expressed his strong hope that through the various activities being carried out by the Secretariat, the Centre would make more contribution in further enhancing the ASEAN-China strategic partnership. He stated that as the Chair Country of ASEAN, Cambodia would work together with all the ASEAN Member States in deepening the mutually beneficial cooperation between ASEAN and China.
The Meeting reviewed and adopted all the documents related to the institutionalization of the ACC, such as the design of the Logo, organizational structure of the ACC and the Secretariat and its internal regulations, the work programme and budget for the year 2012 and the Rules and Procedures on Associates of the ACC, etc. The Meeting agreed to convene the 2nd Meeting of the Joint Council in the last quarter of 2012. The participants attended the ceremony for raising the ACC Flag at the compound of the ACC.
The First Meeting of the Joint Executive Board of the ACC was convened on 17 May, one day earlier before the above-said meeting.