Vice Mayor of Kunming Met with ACC Delegation

On 4 December 2015, Mr. Guan Qinghua, Vice Mayor of Kunming, met with the representatives who attended the 5th Meeting of the Joint Council (JC) of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) in Kunming. H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, ACC Secretary-General, H.E. Mr. Min Lwin, Permanent Representative of Myanmar to ASEAN, H.E. Mr. Tan Hung Seng, Permanent Representative of Singapore to ASEAN, H.E. Mr. Nguyen Hoanh Nam, Permanent Representative of Viet Nam to ASEAN, and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, and the ASEAN Secretariat, attended the meeting. Mr. Xu Changming, Deputy Director of the Office of Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs of the Municipal Government of Kunming, and officials from the Bureau of Education, Bureau of Tourism Development, Bureau of Commerce, and Bureau of Investment Promotion of Kunming were present at the meeting.

Vice Mayor Guan Qinghua extended a warm welcome to the ACC delegation, expressing that Yunnan Province had developed a strong affinity with ASEAN countries by serving as a link and bridge connecting China and ASEAN countries since ever since the ancient times. Kunming, as the capital city and the only huge city of Yunnan Province, had not only kept up the momentum of rapid growth in economy in recent years but also opened up a vast range of prospects for future development. Kunming looked forward to strengthening exchanges and cooperation with ASEAN countries by joining efforts to seek development opportunities. Kunming will continue to explore its unique geographical advantage to make new contributions to the development of ASEAN-China relations.

H.E. Mr. Min Lwin extended his thanks to the Municipal Government of Kunming for the hospitality received on behalf of the JC members, expressing that Yunnan’s contiguity and long-standing people-to-people connectivity with ASEAN countries had forged the friendship that went back to the ancient times. The ACC delegation’s visit to Kunming gave them a first-hand experience of the remarkable achievements of the social and economic development in recent years and a full understanding of the tangible benefits brought about by functional cooperation between ASEAN and China. Mr. Min Lwin reiterated that ACC, as a bridge that played a key role in promoting exchanges and cooperation, would be willing to make joint efforts with Kunming to expand and deepen functional cooperation between ASEAN and China in economy, trade and culture.