On 23 February 2023, H.E. Secretary General Shi Zhongjun of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) met with H.E. Deputy Secretary Foo Chi Hsia of the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ms. Ong Sze Mei, Deputy Director-General of ASEAN Directorate of the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sun Yi, Director of the General Affairs and Coordination Division of the ACC, and Mr. Fang Qiang, Deputy Director of the Information and Public Relations Division of the ACC, attended the meeting.
Secretary General Shi Zhongjun said that, as the only inter-governmental organisation between ASEAN and China, ACC has been committed to promoting the economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between the two sides, while continuously expanding and elevating the cooperation based on the mutual demands. ACC will continue to uphold the ASEAN centrality and insist on open regionalism and multilateralism, and work together with Singapore and other ASEAN Member States to contribute to building a closer ASEAN-China community of shared future.
Foo Chi Hsia welcomed Secretary General Shi’s visit to Singapore. She said that the ASEAN’s cooperation with China enjoys close ties, wide fields, fruitful achievements, and promising prospects, bringing tangible benefits to the people of both sides. The ACC has made remarkable progress in promoting ASEAN-China exchanges and cooperation across the board. Under the new circumstances, Singapore and China should work together to promote the new growth of ASEAN-China cooperation in such fields as green agriculture, food safety, digital economy and blue economy, helping each other in steady economic recovery and social developments in the post epidemic era. Singapore is willing to further deepen cooperation with the ACC in ensuring fresh progress of the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.