About the ASEAN-China Centre
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ASEAN-CHINA CENTRE 2019 About the ASEAN-China Centre About the ASEAN-China Centre The ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) is an inter-governmental organization which was co-founded by governments of 10 ASEAN Member States and China. Since its inception on 18 November 2011, the Centre has actively played its role as a one-stop information and activities centre to promote practical cooperation between ASEAN and China in the areas of trade, investment, tourism, education, culture as well as information and media. The ACC Secretariat is located in Beijing. The current Secretary-General is H.E. Mr. Chen Dehai. ACC is governed by three bodies ACC is governed by three bodies, with the Joint Council as the policy-making body, the Joint Executive Board as the advisory body, and the Secretariat as the executing body. The Joint Council comprises the members of the ASEAN-China Joint Cooperation Committee. The Joint Executive Board consists of the ASEAN Committee in Beijing (ACB) and the China Council, which was established to include representatives from Chinese agencies involved in trade, investment, tourism, educational and cultural matters. The Secretariat consists of a Secretary-General as its chief executive and four divisions, including General Affairs and Coordination Division, Trade and Investment Division, Education, Culture and Tourism Division, and Information and Public Relations Division. 1 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ASEAN-CHINA CENTRE 2019 Executive Summary Executive Summary The year 2019 marks the 16th anniversary of ASEAN-China strategic partnership and the ASEAN-China Year of Media Exchanges. ASEAN-China relations have entered a new phase of all-around development, and both sides are ushering in broader space for cooperation. In 2019, following the guidance of the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership Vision 2030 and taking the opportunity of ASEAN-China Year of Media Exchanges, the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) actively implemented important consensus reached by the leaders of both sides, pushed forward the practical cooperation and enhanced the people-to-people exchanges under the direction and in the priority areas of ASEAN-China cooperation, which received wide acknowledgement and strong support from the governments and sectors of ASEAN Member States and China. In 2019, as approved by its Joint Council, ACC has been actively carrying out 23 fl agship projects and organized or participated in numerous productive activities. To cope with the opportunities and challenges brought by new technologies, ACC continued to deepen the exchanges and mutual learning in such innovative fields as smart city, intelligent industries, artifi cial intelligence between ASEAN Member States and China, and facilitate the platform building. Focusing on the ASEAN- China Year of Media Exchanges, ACC actively promoted the media exchanges between ASEAN countries and China, and tapped cooperation potential to jointly bring the bilateral media cooperation to a higher level and improve the people-to- people ties. In 2019, ACC yielded fruitful results in promoting practical cooperation of both sides in trade, investment, education, culture, tourism as well as information and media. On trade and investment, ACC focused on the implementation of the upgraded ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), and played a bridging 3 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ASEAN-CHINA CENTRE 2019 Executive Summary role for economic cooperation. To deepen the Belt and Road international cooperation and the innovation-driven development, ACC co-hosted the “Innovation Leading Development: 2019 ASEAN-China Intelligent Industry Conference” in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, and the ASEAN-China Digital Economy Industry Forum in Beijing, promoting both sides to drive high-quality development with innovation. ACC co-hosted the ASEAN-China Trade and Investment Promotion Seminars in Anhui, Jiangxi, Shandong and Gansu Provinces, introducing trade and investment policies of ASEAN countries to local governments and businesses in China, and providing reliable platforms for ASEAN countries to understand China’s local investment policies. ACC continued facilitating ASEAN enterprises to expand business in China by co-hosting events including the 2019 South and Southeast Asia Commodity Expo and Investment Fair, the 3rd China-Southeast Asia Business Forum and the China (Sichuan) - South and Southeast Asia Business Leaders Summit. ACC supported the China-ASEAN Business Leaders Forum during the 16th China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABIS) in Nanning, the 2019 China International Big Data Industry Expo in Guiyang and the 2019 Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Expo in Kunming. In order to expand trade and investment opportunities, ACC successively organized groups of Chinese enterprises to Viet Nam and Singapore, and participated in the 2nd China Healthcare Products Expo in Jakarta, Indonesia. To strengthen cooperation in agriculture, science and technology, new and renewable energy as well as connectivity and production capacity, ACC organized field visits to China Electronics Technology Group Corporation International and China Gezhouba Group Corporation International in 4 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ASEAN-CHINA CENTRE 2019 Executive Summary Beijing and iFLYTEK in Hefei, set the ASEAN Pavilion at the 17th China International Trade Fair for the Grain and Oil Products, co- hosted the 2nd ASEAN-China Industrial Design & Innovation Design Forum in Liuzhou, attended the East Asia Summit New Energy Forum in Kunming, the Smart China Expo 2019 and the China (Chongqing)- Singapore Demonstration Strategic Connectivity Financial Summit in Chongqing, the First Forum on China Pilot Free Trade Zone Development in Wuhan, the China (Beijing) International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing, the World Ocean Week in Xiamen, etc. Besides, ACC participated in major international and regional events with sustained infl uence including the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019, the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for international Cooperation, the 10th ASEAN Connectivity Symposium, the 7th China-Central Asia Cooperation Forum as well as activities related to ASEAN Plus Three (APT) such as the 8th APT Village Offi cials Exchange Project and the China-Japan-Korea Belt and Road Business Conference. On education, ACC created a new flagship project “Higher Education Exchange and Cooperation” to expand the scope of friendly exchanges and practical cooperation in the fi eld of education between ASEAN and China. Under this project, ACC jointly launched the ASEAN-China University Consortium on Medicine and Health with Peking University Health Science Centre to facilitate the building of a long-term mechanism for mutual learning and in-depth cooperation in medical education, scientific research and healthcare services. ACC also co-hosted or supported a series of activities with a view of fostering ASEAN-China wide-spectrum collaboration in higher education, including students’ exchanges, capacity building, joint 5 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ASEAN-CHINA CENTRE 2019 Executive Summary research and so on. With the ever-growing demands for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) collaboration between ASEAN and China, ACC made new endeavors to conduct field research on TVET institutes in China, so as to better understand the policy momentum, their achievements and needs in cooperation with ASEAN countries, towards fostering better synergy for TVET institutes of both sides. Meanwhile, ACC played an active role in contributing to the building of an ASEAN-China TVET Community with a shared future by supporting major events such as the China- ASEAN Vocational Education Forum and Exhibition of Successful Cooperative Programs, the Partnership Workshop of SEAMEO- China TVET Cultural Twinning Programme and the China-ASEAN Vocational Education Summit Forum. ACC deepened and broadened the partnership with the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and gave full play to the role of the China- ASEAN Education Cooperation Week (CAECW) to expand the scope of educational cooperation. ACC also leveraged the strength of partnership with universities and government departments to deepen youth exchanges, and enhance mutual understanding and forge friendship among our future leaders, which will contribute to the building of an even closer ASEAN-China Community with a shared future. On culture, ACC maintained good relations with partners from government departments, cultural organizations, academia and related companies in China and ASEAN countries, and actively promoted cultural and people-to-people exchanges. In 2019, ACC expanded cultural exchanges and interactions between China and ASEAN, organized various creative activities to promote mutual 6 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ASEAN-CHINA CENTRE 2019 Executive Summary understanding and appreciation. ACC co-hosted the 4th ASEAN Gourmet Festival: the Harmony of Amazing Thai Flavours, 2019 ASEAN-China Fair and the 2019 “Soong Ching Ling Cup” China- ASEAN Youth Football Friendly Matches, co-sponsored the launching ceremony of Documentary Dan’s Way-Indonesia, co- organized the 14th China-ASEAN Culture Forum, launched the Collection of ASEAN Short Stories and Information of ASEAN Cultural Festivals, supported and attended several cultural activities such as 2019 Shenzhen Belt and Road International Music Festival, ASEAN Week 2019 in Seoul, 2019 Beijing Science Camp for ASEAN Youth, the Inauguration Ceremony of 10+3 Culture City Network, the 2nd General Assembly of ASEAN-China Arts Colleges Alliance