His Excellency Mr. Zhang Ming, Vice Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China,
His Excellency Mr. Ma Mingqiang, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre,
Her Excellency Mme. Yang Xiuping, Ambassador of China to ASEAN and Co-Chair of the ASEAN-China Centre Joint Council,
Dear ASEAN Colleagues, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
-Mingalarbar. A very good evening to all of you.
-On behalf of my ASEAN Colleagues, I would like to congratulate and offer our best wishes and success to the ASEAN-China Centre on the occasion of celebrating 3rd Anniversary of its establishment, which was launched by the leaders of ASEAN and China in 2011.
-The year 2014 is marked not only as the beginning of the Diamond Decade of ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership but also as the ASEAN-China Cultural Exchange Year.
-The Opening Ceremony of the Cultural Exchange Year was held in Beijing in April this year and the Closing Ceremony was recently held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar on 16 December.
-During the Cultural Exchange Year, various forms of over 100 cultural events and the programmes have been accomplished in ASEAN Member States and China.
-One of the exemplary events was the performances by the Chinese Art Troupes in Jakarta in August 2014 and the audiences include Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN, Permanent Representatives to ASEAN and Diplomatic corps in Jakarta.
-I was one of the audiences and I very much enjoyed the performances which I believe well-served its purposes to appreciate the cultural differences and to promote and enhance the existing friendship and cooperation between the peoples of ASEAN and China.
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
-Another significant occasion in the relations between ASEAN and China is the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in October this year, and it is expected that many infrastructure projects in the Asia Pacific Region will receive financial assistance from this multilateral development bank.
-While ASEAN is the third largest trading partner of China, China maintains its status as top trading partner of ASEAN for five consecutive years.
-On account of the growth of ASEAN-China relations, peoples from both sides gain benefits, our economic and social progress are further promoted and thus contributed to regional peace, stability and prosperity.
-ASEAN welcomes the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road proposed by China which will also support infrastructure development for the successful establishment of the ASEAN Community in 2015.
-In this regard, we also welcome the designation of the year 2015 as ASEAN-China Maritime Cooperation Year, and we firmly believe that this cooperation will further strengthen the expansion of bilateral cooperation between ASEAN and China.
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
-Over the past years, the ASEAN-China Centre has become an important platform for the cooperation between ASEAN and China, and with the strong support of the Member States and the active implementation of the ASEAN-China Centre, the ACC is able to accomplish more than 70 approved cooperation projects in recent 3 years which focused on trade, investment, education, culture, tourism and public relations.
-The ASEAN-China Centre has many remarkable achievements in recent years under the leadership of Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang and on behalf of ASEAN Colleagues. I would like to commend the Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang and his Colleagues from the Centre for their hard work, dedication and active role in further enhancing the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership, promoting ASEAN-China good-neighbourliness, mutual trust and cooperation between both sides.
-I strongly believe that ASEAN-China Centre will continue to endeavor in promoting cooperation in all aspects between the ASEAN and China.
-It is very encouraging to note that the ACC has placed emphasis on trade and investment, education, culture, tourism, information and public relations in its Work Plan for 2015, aiming to narrow the development gap between ASEAN countries, to facilitate rapid and balanced growth in the long run, to enhance ASEAN awareness, to assist tourism promotion and to increase public knowledge on ASEAN-China relations.
-With the strong commitment, active participation and cooperation of ASEAN and China including all stakeholders and sectors, we have a great expectation that the ASEAN-China Centre will achieve remarkable success in the coming years, and will play a much bigger role in upgrading the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership.
-May I propose to join me in a toast :
-For more success of the ASEAN-China Centre in the future from this Third Anniversary of its establishment;
-For enhance partnership and cooperation between ASEAN and China;
-For good health, happiness and prosperity in the year 2015 to all present here this evening.
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