ACC Secretary-General Met with Deputy Director of Foreign Affair Office of Wenzhou

On 22 June 2018, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) met with Mr. Zhou Huai, Deputy Director of Foreign Affairs Office of Wenzhou People’s Government, and exchanged views on ASEAN-China and ASEAN-Wenzhou practical cooperation. Mr. Zhang Xuehai, Deputy Director of Information and Public Relations Division of ACC, and Mr. Zhang Fengyu, Officer of Education, Culture and Tourism Division of ACC were present.  

Mr. Zhou Huaizhong briefed on the economic and social development of Wenzhou and its exchange and cooperation with the ASEAN countries. He said that Wenzhou is the frontier of China’s reform and opening-up, and has long maintained close economic and trade relations and cultural exchanges with the ASEAN countries. In 2017, Wenzhou's import and export trade volume with ASEAN approximated 13 billion RMB, accounting for 10% of Wenzhou's total foreign trade volume. Wenzhou’s enterprises invested in the Longjiang Industrial Park in Tien Giang, Vietnam, and invested in the Qingshan Industrial Park in China-Indonesia Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in Indonesia, contributing positively to the ASEAN-China practical cooperation and the “Belt and Road Initiative”. In 2010, Wenzhou signed a letter of intent for the establishment of sister city relations with Ipoh, Malaysia, and conducted close exchanges and cooperation in the areas of economy, trade, education, and services. The Confucius Institute at Burapha University, which was jointly established by Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou University and Burapha University of Thailand, was officially inaugurated in 2009 and became the first Confucius Institute in Thailand to introduce Chinese medical culture. In recent years, Wenzhou city also held the China-Malaysia (Wenzhou) Investment and Trade Dialogue, the First International Academic Forum on the Integration of Production, Teaching and Research in Wenzhou-ASEAN Region, the Wenzhou Fashion Industry Internationalization and the ASEAN Trade Investment Development Forum, and established the Wenzhou CCPIT (ASEAN) Investment & Trade Research and Promotion Centre, which provided good platforms and opened up new channels for deepening the friendly exchanges and cooperation between Wenzhou and ASEAN. Wenzhou will continue to take ASEAN as a priority for foreign exchanges and cooperation, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with the ASEAN countries and look forward to the continued support from the ACC.

Secretary-General Yang Xiuping spoke highly of the fruitful achievements of exchange and cooperation between Wenzhou and the ASEAN countries. She briefed on the ASEAN-China relations and the work of ACC. Saying that local exchange and cooperation is an important driving force for the development of ASEAN-China relations, she expressed that ACC will continue to play the unique role as a bridge to facilitate and broaden cooperation between relevant provinces and cities of the two sides, and help Wenzhou to expand friendly exchange with the ASEAN countries to achieve mutually beneficial results and common development.