CHANGZHI CITY, located in the southeastern part of Shanxi Province, is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization. In ancient history, the Yan Dynasty Emperor Shennong pioneered the practice of farming in this area of the Taihang Mountains. In 2024, Changzhi will host the ASEAN China Week event as part of the 2024 ASEAN-China People-to-People Exchange Year.
Changzhi’s innovative history is highly relevant to the theme of this event, “ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership: Achieving Prosperity through Innovation”. The event brought together around 300 participants from diplomats, business people, students and researchers from 10 ASEAN member countries and China.
In a press release today, Secretary-General of the ASEAN-China Center (ACC), Shi Zhongjun emphasized the importance of solid ASEAN-China relations as the key to regional stability amidst uncertainties and rising challenges on the international stage.
The rapid development of this relationship is reflected in the trade sector, where in the first half of 2024 the trade volume of both parties increased by 10.5 percent compared to the previous year. In the investment sector, China’s investment in ASEAN jumped 44.6 percent with total two-way investment exceeding 380 billion US dollars.
The development of tourism is also inseparable from the increasingly close relationship between the two parties. A number of initiatives have been further pushed, including: strengthening infrastructure connectivity, visa-free policies, and more direct flight schedules. Currently, the number of direct flights between China and ASEAN is recorded at 2,300 flights every week. Tourists from China have become the largest visitors in Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. This year’s ASEAN China Week event is expected to continue to boost this joint progress sustainably.
At the same event, the “ASEAN-China Import Export Service Platform” was also launched to promote the strengthening of trade and economic ties. This platform is a collaboration between ACC and the Center for Promotion of Industrial Internet of Silk Road (CPIISR) that provides multilingual services and timely, accurate and effective information on government bidding and procurement, project requests and commodity exchanges from both parties, etc. In the future, the platform will integrate more information, offer services based on market demand and optimize user experience.
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The ASEAN promotion on this occasion took place at the magnificent and modern Changzhi Lakeside Cultural and Tourism Service Center. The promotion took various forms, such as high-level dialogues for trade, investment and tourism sectors, where representatives of related countries introduced current conditions of interest to tourists. A number of Chinese students were also present to perform dances from Southeast Asia and China. A special exhibition area was also provided for the display of various leading export products and leading tourist areas from ASEAN countries.
In his remarks, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing Parulian George Andreas Silalahi invited China to continue implementing the ‘ASEAN Way’, where the main elements include the principle of non-interference in each country’s domestic affairs and a non-confrontational and consensus-based decision-making method, especially considering the challenging international situation.
“The challenges in the future are very diverse, ranging from the implementation of the digital economy, technological changes, environmental issues and others. Long-term investment in education and research is needed to deepen knowledge and understanding,” he said.
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Meanwhile, ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General for Community and Corporate Affairs, Nararya S. Soeprapto also raised the importance of collaboration in research and development, as well as improving digital connectivity, strengthening sustainable economic practices, and developing the collective talents of the people of both parties to keep up with high-tech and digital developments. “Under the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), the potential of the digital economy in the region will potentially double to two trillion US dollars by 2030.”
The direct benefits of this two-party cooperation have been felt, and perhaps more by business people, than the general public for now. Nararya in his interview with ANTARA referred to how important various forms of exchange of relations between people are and how efforts to get to know each other’s cultures more closely will be able to further increase these benefits.
Director of Communication and Strategic Research Gentala Institute, Christine Susanna Tjhin as part of the delegation welcomed the series of ACC activities in introducing ASEAN to various places in China. The visit to Shanxi this time opens up opportunities for more intensive interaction between ASEAN and Shanxi considering the uniqueness and potential of the province.
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In addition to the beauty and depth of historical meaning of a number of places visited by the delegation this time, the understanding built from the increased intensity of exchanges between these people will become a solid pillar of support for strengthening relations between ASEAN and China.
“ASEAN has a lot to learn from Shanxi,” Christine said. “Shanxi is now a laboratory for China’s green energy transition, where innovations are being driven to support China’s high-quality development. ASEAN countries have a lot to learn from this coal country, especially in driving green and digital development.”
The exchange between the young generations of ASEAN and China is also a focus of activities in Changzhi this time. In an ANTARA interview, Indonesian student siblings – Jazzlyn Jap and Justin Jap who study at Tsinghua University reflected on how important the role of the young generation is in supporting ASEAN China relations. They admitted that without activities like this, they would not necessarily be able to feel the true meaning of people-to-people relations.
The Jap brothers are active in the Tshinghua University Student Association of China-ASEAN (THUCA) which promotes ASEAN cultures on their campus – from the Songkran water festival which is often held in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, to sports competitions which require each team to consist of athletes from ASEAN countries and China.
“So experience is the most important, good or bad can give me the strongest understanding, because it is directly felt what people-to-people is like. Indeed, experience is the best teacher,” said Justin. The siblings hope that the ASEAN-China relationship will always be strong and remain proud of the specialization of products and services of each country. (RO)
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