Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang Promoted ACC at the 9th CACPPF

On 19 September 2014, the 9th Conference on ASEAN-China People-to-People Friendship (CACPPF) was held in Chengdu, China. The Conference was co-organized by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), China-ASEAN Association, Chengdu Municipal People’s Government, and supported by ASEAN-China Centre (ACC). More than 300 people attended the conference, including Mr. Ma Biao, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Madame Gu Xiulian, President of China-ASEAN Association, Mr. Feng Zuoku, Vice President of CPAFFC, Mr. Tang Chuanping, Chairman of Chengdu Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference attended the Conference. Some ASEAN former state leaders, ministers, ASEAN Secretariat officials, friendship-with-China associations’ leaders, ASEAN diplomats in China, local government officials, entrepreneurs as well as representatives from cultural and media sectors, were also present at the conference. 

ACC Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang in his speech emphasized that this year was the ASEAN-China Cultural Exchange Year and people-to-people friendship constitute an important foundation for ASEAN-China relations. Strengthening people-to-people exchange and cooperation is not only the desire of the peoples of ASEAN and China , but also the need of development of all-round relationship between ASEAN and China. He also briefed the meeting on the objectives of ACC and the activities undertaken to promote ASEAN-China people-to-people exchanges and cooperation as a one-stop information and activity centre. He said ACC had organized a number of cultural activities both in China and ASEAN Member States in conjunction with the ASEAN-China Cultural exchange year. Secretary-General Ma expressed the willingness of ACC to working closely together with the governments, academic circle and non-governmental organizations in China and ASEAN to further strengthen the mutual understanding and friendship.

During the meeting, Secretary-General Ma also attended the ASEAN-China Tourism Forum as a guest speaker, where he elaborated on ACC’s efforts to promote ASEAN-China cooperation in tourism sector. He said ACC had been successful in promoting ASEAN and China by making use of the major media both in China and ASEAN.

    CACPPF was originally named CACPPFO (Conference on ASEAN-China People-to-People Friendship Organizations), jointly initiated by CPAFFC, China-ASEAN Association and friendship-with-China organizations in ASEAN countries in 2006, with the purpose of establishing people-to-people exchange platform, promot mutual trust and push forward pragmatic cooperation. The CACPPFO has been held annually in China, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam and the Philippines. The CACPPFO now has become an important platform for ASEAN-China people-to-people exchanges and made significant contributions to the development of relations between China and ASEAN countries.