On 21 October 2016, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), met with Mr. Wang Jinjian, Vice Mayor of Wuxi City. Ms. Zhao Jun, Vice Editor-in-Chief of the China Report Magazine, attended the meeting.
Mr. Wang gave a warm welcome to Mme. Yang Xiuping, Ms. Zhao Jun, and the ASEAN media delegation reporting on the theme of “Jointly Building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and expressed his gratitude to ACC and the China Report Magazine for their attention and support to the cooperation between Wuxi and ASEAN. He cited that Wuxi, an ancient city located in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta, is regarded as the cradle of China’s national industry and township enterprises. In recent years, Wuxi has yielded fruitful results in its cooperation with ASEAN. In 2015, Wu Xi registered a trade volume of $8.6 billion with ASEAN countries, accounting for 12% of its overall trade with foreign countries. Wuxi has made 160 investments in ASEAN countries with an aggregate of registered capital of $1.1 billion. Wu Xi has also established sister-city relations with relevant cities in Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. It continues to deepen its exchanges in culture, education, and tourism. Wuxi will further move forward its communication with ASEAN countries within the framework of Jointly Building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It looks forward to continued support of ACC and the China Report in this connection.
Secretary-General Yang thanked Wuxi City for its careful arrangements for the ASEAN media delegation’s reporting trip on the theme of “Jointly Building 21st Century Maritime Silk Road” and gave a briefing on ACC’s efforts to promote trade, investment, education, culture, tourism, information and media. She said Wuxi, building on its close connections and solid cooperation with ASEAN countries, has made significant contributions to ASEAN-China relations. ACC will keep playing its role as a one-stop information and activities centre in serving as a bridge for Wuxi and other cities and provinces in China and building more platforms to promote people-to-people exchanges and strengthen cooperation.
Following the meeting, Mr. Wang gave an interview to the ASEAN journalists and briefed an overview of the social-economic development of the city and status and prospects of its cooperation with ASEAN countries.