ACC Delegation Visited Yunnan Minzu University

On 4 December 2015, the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) delegation visited Yunnan Minzu University (YMU), where the delegation members watched the performances by the students and had an informal discussion with the faculty and students. Mr. Chen Luyan, Secretary of the Communist Party Committee of YMU, and Mr. Li Bingze, Vice Chancellor of YMU, briefed on the history of the university. Starting up as one of the earliest universities in Yunnan Province to enroll foreign students and to teach Chinese to international students, YMU has now turned out to be an important window of Yunnan Province open to ASEAN countries to carry out exchanges and cooperation.

YMU, with a unique advantage in the teaching and study of Southeast Asian languages and culture, had plans to offer more courses in South Asian and Southeast Asian languages. Since YMU was designated an ASEAN-China Education and Training Centre in 2014, it had set up Sub-Centres in Yunnan’s border cities and counties such as Ruili, Mengla and Malipo, offering training courses which proved widely popular among the workers from Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam. YMU was ready to embrace more students from ASEAN countries and eager to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with colleges and universities of ASEAN countries.

H.E. Ms. Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to ASEAN, said that it was ACC’s mandatory duty to promote cooperation in the areas of education and culture. She was happy to learn that YMU was planning to give courses to teach the Filipino language in 2016, which would serve as a new tie of friendship for the exchanges among the young students between the Philippines and China. The 18th ASEAN-China Summit held on 21 November 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, opened up a wonderful vista of the ASEAN-China relations. She hoped that YMU would take the opportunity of the Year of ASEAN-China Educational Exchange in 2016 to give full play to its special advantage to expand cooperation with ASEAN countries and to make further contributions to the friendship between ASEAN and China.

H.E. Mr. Min Lwin, Permanent Representative of Myanmar to ASEAN, H.E. Mr. Tan Hung Seng, Permanent Representative of Singapore to ASEAN and H.E. Mr. Nguyen Hoanh Nam, Permanent Representative of Viet Nam to ASEAN, pledged their support to YMU for its educational exchanges and cooperation with ASEAN countries. 

On the same day, the ASEAN delegation also visited Yunnan Provincial Museum to view exhibitions on the Ancient Tea Route and bronze ware in Yunnan. The delegates commented that they had a worthwhile journey in Yunnan Province, which gave them a better understanding of the culture of Yunnan and its long history of friendly exchanges with ASEAN countries.