Vice Governor of Guangdong Province Met with Representatives of the 6th ACCJC Meeting

On 16 November 2016, Mr. Lan Foan, Vice Governor of Guangdong Province met with representatives of the 6th Joint Council Meeting of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC). The delegation included co-chairs of the 6th ACCJC Meeting, Director General of ASEAN Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lao PDR H.E. Mr. Phongsavanh Sisoulath and Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to ASEAN H.E. Mr. Xu Bu, ACC Secretary-General H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Permanent Representatives to ASEAN of Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Viet Nam as well as other officials from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the ASEAN Secretariat. Deputy Secretary-General of Guangdong Provincial Government Mr. Lin Ji and other officials from local education, culture, tourism, trade promotion, commerce and foreign affairs departments attended the meeting.

Vice Governor Lan Foan congratulated ACC on successfully convening the 6th JC Meeting and briefed the delegation on the economic and social development of Guangdong Province and its exchanges and cooperation with ASEAN. He said Guangdong Province and ASEAN countries enjoy geographical proximity, close people-to-people ties and profound friendship. Both sides have engaged in frequent exchanges in trade, education, culture, tourism and other areas. In 2015, trade volume between Guangdong Province and ASEAN exceeded 100 billion USD and around 4.5 million visits were made by people in Guangdong Province to ASEAN countries, accounting for one quarter of China's trade with ASEAN and visits to ASEAN. Currently, more than 7,000 ASEAN students are studying in Guangdong Province. Guangdong is pushing forward innovation-driven development and is committed to opening wider to the world. There is great complementarity between the industries in Guangdong and ASEAN countries which means huge cooperation potential. He expressed the readiness of Guangdong to further strengthen connectivity with ASEAN countries, increase cooperation in trade and investment, education and culture to achieve win-win results and common development. He hoped that ACC would, as always, support cooperation between Guangdong and ASEAN.

Director General Phongsavanh and Ambassador Xu Bu expressed, on behalf of the JC members, appreciation to Guangdong for its hospitality and spoke highly of the achievements Guangdong has made in its economic and social development and its outstanding contribution to ASEAN-China cooperation. Director General Phongsavanh said that China is an important cooperation partner for ASEAN. ASEAN countries will increase exchanges with Guangdong, learn from the success story of Guangdong and welcome more enterprises and tourists from Guangdong to ASEAN for business or sightseeing. It is hoped that by strengthening education cooperation, mutual understanding and friendship between the people, especially young people, of both sides can be further enhanced.

Ambassador Xu Bu said that China attaches great importance to developing its relations with ASEAN. The two sides are actively building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which offers good opportunity for cooperation between Guangdong and ASEAN. It is hoped that Guangdong, as a frontrunner in China's reform and opening up endeavour, will continue to harness its strengths and play an even bigger role in China-ASEAN cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Vice Governor Lan Foan also exchanged views with JC members from Cambodia, Myanmar and Singapore on the opportunities that Guangdong's industrial transformation and upgrading may bring to ASEAN countries and the prospects for education and tourism cooperation between Guangdong and ASEAN.