On 15 November 2016, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) Secretary General exchanged views with Mr. Chen Qiuyan, Director of Foreign Affairs Office of Guangdong Provincial Government. Mr. Luo Jun and Mr. Li Zhenghua, Deputy Directors of Foreign Affairs Office of Guangdong Provincial Government as well as Ms. Huang Ying ,ACC Director of General Affairs and Coordination Division and Mr. Zhang Xuehai, Deputy Director of Information and Public Relations Division attended the meeting.
Director Chen Qiuyan welcomed the ACC Joint Council Meeting to be held in Guangzhou. He introduced the general situation of exchanges and cooperation of Guangdong Province with foreign countries especially with ASEAN countries. He said that as a big province in terms of economic performance and the number of overseas Chinese, Guangdong had a long history of friendly exchanges with ASEAN. At present, Guangdong and ASEAN had established a number of cooperative mechanisms with fruitful results. Under the initiative of of ASEAN-China joint construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the cooperation between Guangdong and ASEAN had been further accelerated with deepening cooperation in connectivity, the construction of industrial parks, trade, and investment. The Foreign Affairs Office would actively play its role in promoting the cooperation with ASEAN. It looked forward to continuing to strengthen communication with ACC, further enhance Guangdong-ASEAN cooperation and make greater contributions in constructing the Belt and Road.
Secretary-General Yang Xiuping thanked the Foreign Affairs Office for the strong support and assistance to the upcoming meeting of ACC Joint Council. She introduced the work of the Centre and the results achieved in recent years. As the forefront of China's reform and opening up, Guangdong made important contributions to the cooperation between China and ASEAN. At present, both sides were at a critical stage of development. 2017 would be the 50th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN and was designated as the Year of ASEAN-China Tourism Cooperation. Guangdong had a unique advantage to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between ASEAN. ACC would be willing to strengthen communication and contact with the Foreign Affairs Office and make full leverage its strengths to jointly promote the comprehensive and in-depth development of ASEAN-China relations.