From 11 to 12 September 2018, the China-ASEAN University (Country and Regional Studies) Think-Tank Network Forum was successfully held in Nanning. Ms. Yang Jinghua, Vice Chairperson of the People's Congress of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Mr. Chen Dehai, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti, Executive Director of ASEAN University Network, Mr. Du Kewei, Director-General of China Center for International People-to-People Exchanges of the Ministry of Education of China, Mr. Wang Liyong, Deputy Director-General of China Center for Contemporary World Studies of the International Department of Central Committee of Communist Party of China and Mr. Zhao Yueyu, President of Guangxi University attended the opening ceremony and delivered remarks.
The Forum, with the theme of “China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership for Innovation: Synergy, Responsibility and Win-win Cooperation”, was co-hosted by ACC, the People’s Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the Silk Road Think Tank Association, and organized by Guangxi University. Almost 200 participants attended the forum，including experts, scholars and representatives from China and ASEAN countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
Secretary-General Chen Dehai said in his remarks that think tanks are playing a more and more important role in the development of different countries. It is the common need of both ASEAN and China to build high-level and internationalized think tanks and enhance exchanges and cooperation among them. It is also one of the highlights of people-to-people exchanges in the new era. It is hoped that all the participants could actively share ideas and put forward suggestions on how to usher in a new chapter for cooperation and exchanges on country and regional studies, and contribute wisdom on how to deepen ASEAN-China strategic partnership. He said that ACC stands ready to further strengthen communication with all sectors of ASEAN and China, continuously serve as an information and activities centre, strive to deepen ASEAN-China practical cooperation, and make new contributions to the ASEAN-China community with a shared future.
Experts and scholars present conducted lively discussions and achieved fruitful outcomes on four topics, namely, “win-win cooperation and development: ASEAN-China strategic partnership in 15 years, review and outlook”, “innovation and construction: building China-ASEAN community of innovation”, “cooperation and responsibility: roles of countries in promoting regional development”, and “consensus and action: prospects and strategies for China-ASEAN cooperation”.