It is a great pleasure for me to attend the first Silk Road Media Cooperation Forum in the ancient city of Nanjing.
The theme of the forum “Media Cooperation Under the Belt and Road Initiative” is highly relevant. I wish the forum a complete success.
As close neighbours, China and ASEAN countries enjoy a long history of friendly relations. This year marks the 25th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations. It is also the Year of Educational Exchange for our two sides.
Over the past 25 years, ASEAN-China relations have gone from strength to strength. China has been ASEAN’s biggest trading partner for seven straight years and ASEAN has been China’s third largest trading partner for five years in a row.
The year 2015 witnessed a record high of more than 23 million visitors and 190,000 exchanges of students between China and ASEAN countries. China has set up 31 Confucius Institutes and 32 Confucius Classrooms in ASEAN countries as well as 4 Chinese Cultural Centres in Thailand, Singapore, the Lao PDR, and Cambodia. Each week, there’re more than 2,000 international flights between China and ASEAN countries in summer and autumn seasons.
As a matter of fact, ASEAN-China relations today is the most robust and fruitful relationship compared with other ASEAN's dialogue partners. This relations have significantly yielded tangible benefits to our 2 billion people, and contributed greatly to peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.
With the new initiatives of both sides, namely, ASEAN 's Connectivity and the China's Belt and Road Initiative, we are fully confident that China and ASEAN will tap the huge potential of these new trends of development. ASEAN has become a priority in the Belt and Road Initiative of China. We are making joint efforts to build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and advance our cooperation on connectivity and production capacity.
The negotiations on upgrading the ASEAN-China FTA have completed. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has been set up and the Lancang-Mekong cooperation mechanism has been instituted. All these have given us further room for the advancement of ASEAN-China relations. Last month in Vientiane, Lao PDR, both sides reached broad consensus and adopted a set of outcome documents at the 19th ASEAN-China Summit to Commemorate the 25th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations, charting the course for future development of ASEAN-China relations.
Next year 2017 will mark the 50th anniversary of ASEAN and will also be the ASEAN-China Year of Tourism Cooperation. We are confident that the future of ASEAN-China relations will be even brighter.
Media cooperation forms an integral part of ASEAN-China relations. In recent years, the governments of both sides have been making continuous efforts to expand and upgrade our cooperation.
The two sides have strengthened communication of policies and drawn up plans of cooperation through several meetings of ministers responsible for information between ASEAN and China and between ASEAN, China, Japan and ROK.
Media cooperation has been reiterated in the Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Declaration on ASEAN- China Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity (2016-2020). The media agencies of both sides have conducted joint interviews, personnel exchanges, training programmes and seminars. A number of radio broadcasting corporations and television stations of China are now accessible in ASEAN countries. Some agencies have forged mechanisms of cooperation such as exchange of programmes, articles, reports and visits.
To promote mutual understanding among the people is a vital ingredient of the Belt and Road construction. Media plays the crucial role in being a bridge in facilitating cross-cultural exchange. I hope that both ASEAN and Chinese media will recognize your important role on this regard and build on the good work together, help shape a favorable media environment, and raise more public awareness so as to support the enhancement of ASEAN-China relations. To this end, I wish to propose the following:
First, spread positive energy for friendly cooperation. It is important for the media of both sides to increase their coverage of the social-economic development of ASEAN and China in an objective and fair light with a precise grasp of the trend of ASEAN-China relations. The media needs to promptly disseminate the message of friendly cooperation, portray the ongoing development of all activities of relations of two sides, as well as encourage the general public to take part in ASEAN-China cooperation.
Second, build new platforms for exchange and cooperation. It is recommendable that the media of both sides to further search the new networks and platforms to enhance media cooperation to a higher level. The Silk Road Media Alliance initiated at this forum is a good example.
Third, make good use of new technology. We are living in an era of IT application and the internet. The ASEAN and Chinese media may expand cooperation on new media platforms and embrace more new young audiences to raise the awareness of ASEAN-China relations.
ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) is an inter-governmental organization co-founded by ASEAN countries and China. Since its inception, ACC works to implement the important consensus reached between leaders of the two sides to promote practical cooperation in trade, investment, education, culture, tourism, as well as information and media. ACC has completed more than 100 flagship projects and hosted or participated in more than 500 activities. Its work has been widely acclaimed as it helps deepen ASEAN-China friendship and cooperation.
In the area of information and public relations, ACC has regular contact with media of both sides. It gives wide publicity to the achievements of ASEAN-China practical cooperation through its official website, Microblog and WeChat. ACC has organized 16 journalists from 10 Chinese media agencies to visit the Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam.
This year, ACC and the State Council Information Office of China jointly organized the second reporting trip by journalists from 10 ASEAN countries. The team will visit Jiangsu and Yunnan Provinces to experience in person the development of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and the broad prospects of ASEAN-China cooperation.
ACC has carried out flagship projects including the ASEAN and Chinese Ambassadors’ Lecture Series and Microblog interviews on “Touring ASEAN with Diplomats”. The Ambassadors of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam have taken part in the above-mentioned activities. Yesterday, H.E. Ms. Magdalene Teo, Ambassador of Brunei Darussalam to China, delivered a wonderful speech at the Nanjing Normal University followed by a lively discussion with the faculties and students as well as friends from other sectors.
Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of ASEAN and the ASEAN-China Year of Tourism Cooperation. Accordingly, ACC will carry out projects featuring media exchange and cooperation in diverse forms. We look forward to the invaluable support and active participation of various sides.
ACC will continue to serve as a one-stop information and activity centre and promote media exchange and cooperation, so as to make greater contribution to the Belt and Road construction and the deepening of ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership.
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