On September 24, the opening ceremony of 2021 China-ASEAN Educational Cooperation Week was held online and offline in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China’s Guizhou province. Jointly hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and the provincial government of Guizhou, the event focused on enhancing cooperation for sustainable development of education. Education Minister Huai Jinpeng delivered his inaugural speech via video at the ceremony.

Huai said that the past three decades since the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN in 1991 had witnessed vigorous bilateral exchanges in various fields, and that the Education Cooperation Week served as an important platform for effective exchanges in the field of education. In the past year, despite the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, China and ASEAN countries have joined hands in coping with various difficulties and managed to maintain education exchanges between them.

Huai noted that 2021 represented the first year of the “14th Five-Year Plan” period in China. Looking forward to the post-COVID-19 era, he said that the Chinese government would continue to improve the quality of its education system and increase international exchange in education, including with ASEAN countries. He hoped that all parties could enhance cooperation to facilitate education-industry integration and the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, so as to contribute to a closer community of a shared future between China and ASEAN countries.

The event was attended by Sonexay Siphandone, Deputy Prime Minister of Laos, Muhadjir Effendy, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture of Indonesia, Lin Yuhui, Secretary-General of ASEAN as well as education ministers and ambassadors to China of ASEAN countries, and leaders from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education and Guizhou province.