H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, the new Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), arrived at the ACC Secretariat on 26 May 2015, and was warmly greeted by all the officials and staff of ACC. Mr. Bai Tian, Deputy Director-General of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of China, accompanied Secretary-General Yang to the ACC Secretariat.
A welcoming ceremony was held at the ACC Secretariat, which was moderated by Ms. Huang Ying, Director of General Affairs and Coordination Division (GACD) of ACC.
Deputy Director-General Bai read the diplomatic note the Chinese MFA issued on 22 May 2015, informing that upon the consensus of the Joint Council (JC) of ACC, Mme. Yang Xiuping was appointed as the Secretary-General of ACC on a three-year term of office starting from 21 May 2015. The Ministry had full confidence that ACC would achieve further success under the leadership of the new Secretary-General and make greater contributions to the all-dimensional friendship and cooperation between China and ASEAN.
Deputy Director-General Bai opined that as a veteran diplomat, Mme. Yang's diplomatic career had covered the portfolios of Asia Pacific, South Asia and Southeast Asia, from bilateral to multilateral. Over the past three years, as China's first resident Ambassador to ASEAN, Mme. Yang had made outstanding contributions to promoting China-ASEAN cooperation across the board and bringing the peoples of the two sides closer together. It was believed that with her leadership, wisdom, dedication and wide connections in both China and ASEAN countries, ACC would have an even brighter future with more achievements in its way forward. The Chinese MFA would continue to give its full support to the ACC Secretariat and its new Secretary-General in their future work.
Secretary-General Yang, in her remarks, recalled the memorable and fond moments of her previous visits to ACC during the past years, including a familiarization trip before going to Jakarta to assume the post of the Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN, and attending the ACC JC Meetings for four times. She expressed appreciation to former ACC Secretary-General Ma Mingqiang for having laid a very good foundation for the work of ACC, and to all the colleagues of ACC for their unremitting efforts to promote the development of ASEAN-China relations. Mme. Yang pledged to work together with all the colleagues of ACC to fulfill the big task ahead, which was to work for the better future of China and 10 ASEAN countries, for the better future of ASEAN-China cooperation, as well as for the better life and well-being for the 2 billion peoples of ASEAN and China.
All the ACC officials gave a warm applause to Secretary-General Yang for her official assumption of the new Secretary-General of ACC.
After the welcoming ceremony, Secretary-General Yang and Deputy Director-General Bai Tian, accompanied by Ms. Huang Ying, Director of General Affairs and Coordination Division (GACD), Mr. Li Yuan, Director of Trade and Investment Division (TID), Mr. Tri Purnajaya, Director of Education, Culture and Tourism Division (ECTD) and Ms. Lada Phumas, Director of Information and Public Relations Division (IPRD), toured the exhibition on ASEAN-China relations and the development of ACC at the ACC ASEAN Hall.