On 28 November 2016, Mr. Zhang Yan, Secretary of Panzhihua Municipal Party Committee, met with the delegation of the ASEAN Committee in Beijing (ACB). H.E. Ms. Magdalene Teo, Ambassador of Brunei Darussalam to China and Rotating Chair of ACB, H.E. Dato’ Zainuddin bin Yahya, Ambassador of Malaysia to China, H.E. Mr. Thit Linn Ohn, Ambassador of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to China, Mr. Nguyen Hoai Anh, Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Mr. Gan Teng Kiat, Consul-General of Singapore in Chengdu, representatives from Cambodian and Indonesian Embassies in Beijing, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), Mr. Li Jianqin, Deputy Secretary of Panzhihua Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Panzhihua Municipal Government, Mr. Shen Jun, Member of the Standing Committee of Panzhihua Municipal Party Committee and Executive Vice Mayor of Panzhihua Municipal Government, Mr. Jiang Hai, Member of the Standing Committee of Panzhihua Municipal Party Committee and Director of Publicity Department, Mr. Li Wenfei, Vice Mayor of Panzhihua Municipal Government and officials from Sichuan Provincial Commerce Department and Sichuan Council for Promotion of International Trade attended the meeting.
Secretary Zhang Yan warmly welcomed the delegation to Panzhihua who would also attend the opening ceremony of Panzhihua-ASEAN International Trade City. He appreciated ACC's strong support and briefed the delegation on the history, culture, economic and social development of Panzhihua City. The City is an important base for iron and steel, vanadium, titanium, and energy, and an emerging industrial city. At present, Panzhihua is at a crucial stage for structural adjustment and industrial upgrading. It has been actively implementing the development strategy of building itself into a city for vanadium and titanium, a city for sunshine and flower, a city for health and vacation, and a gateway for Sichuan Province to the South. Panzhihua City attaches great importance to its relations with ASEAN countries. It has worked with Malaysia and Myanmar in the fields of equipment manufacturing, automobile leaf spring, and agriculture. It is hoped that the two sides will continue to tap cooperation potential on the basis of mutual benefit on industry, tourism, trade, and human resources training. At the same time, Panzhihua will fully leverage its favorable location to promote exchanges and cooperation between central and western part of China and ASEAN countries to achieve common development.
H.E. Ambassador Magdalene Teo extended, on behalf of the ACB, appreciation to ACC for its thoughtful arrangements for this trip and to Panzhihua City for its warm hospitality and commended the achievements made by Panzhihua in its economic and social development. She said that Panzhihua, endowed with beautiful scenery, pleasant weather and rich resources, is highly complementary with ASEAN countries. The two sides have great potential for cooperation. ASEAN as a whole has more than 600 million people. The realization of ASEAN Economic Community at the end of 2015 has deepened and energized economic integration within ASEAN countries. At the same time, Sichuan Province and Panzhihua City are actively advancing connectivity with ASEAN countries which opened up new prospects for cooperation between the two sides. The delegation hoped that this visit would help them get a full picture of Panzhihua City, promote practical cooperation between ASEAN countries and Panzhihua and boost the understanding and friendship between the people of both sides.
H.E. Secretary-General Yang Xiuping outlined the work and mandate of ACC and the fruitful results achieved over the past 25 years since the establishment of dialogue relations between ASEAN and China. She mentioned that as next year will be the ASEAN-China Year of Tourism Cooperation, it is hoped that Panzhihua City would seize the opportunity to further deepen practical cooperation with ASEAN countries in tourism and other areas. As an inter-governmental organization co-founded by ten ASEAN Members States and China, ACC will continue to serve as a bridge and actively support friendly exchanges between ASEAN and Sichuan Province, Panzhihua City in particular, to the benefit of the people of both sides.