2021 marks the 30th anniversary of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations. On April 19, ASEAN-China Governors/Mayors’ Dialogue 2021 was held in Boao, Hainan Province of China. Chen Weiqiang, Vice Mayor of Hangzhou, attended the Dialogue through video conferencing and delivered a speech on “joint efforts for common development”. 

Chen Weiqiang, Vice Mayor of Hangzhou

“I am looking forward to exchanges and studies on new business forms and models such as digital economy to discover more business opportunities in China.” “It is recommended to boost the collaboration efficiency of China-ASEAN interconnection measures so that the central projects and dialogue platform can play a greater role.” “By taking the opportunity of constructing new land-sea corridor, a more tightly-woven port cooperation network is expected to be developed”. The Dialogue focused on practical exchanges on topics such as “mutual support in COVID-19 response”, “joint efforts for common development”, and “greater connectivity through openness and inclusiveness”. Representatives from Hainan, Hubei, Guangxi, Chongqing and other domestic provinces and cities as well as ASEAN countries such as Brunei, Cambodia and Indonesia, and diplomatic envoys and special guests from relevant countries participated in discussions and exchanged insights on enhancing anti-epidemic cooperation, accelerating economic recovery, and promoting higher-level exchanges and cooperation between China and ASEAN local governments.

In 2020, faced with the sudden COVID-19 outbreak, China-ASEAN bilateral trade bucked the trend and rose. The head of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China Department of Asian Affairsnotedat theconferencethat ASEAN remained China'stop trading partner in the first quarter of 2021. ASEAN is also Hangzhou’slargest import market andthethird largest export market. Hangzhou has so farestablished sister cities with Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia and Baguio in the Philippines, and international friendship and exchange cities with Bangkok in Thailand, Vientiane in Laos and Siem Reap in Cambodia.Hangzhou hasalso hadagood relationship with cities in ASEAN countries.

Year 2020 saw Hangzhou making solid and continuous progress on economic and social development. Core industries in digital economy in particular, registered a 13.3% increase in added value and accounted for 26.6% of the GDP, thus becoming the primary engine driving economic growth over this period. Chen Weiqiang,Vice Mayor of Hangzhou, said that Hangzhou would continue to step up efforts to accelerate the development of industries in digital economy, to foster network infrastructure in digital economy, to advance the innovation and integration of digital technologies, and to foster an enabling business environment. Adhering to the development orientation ofmaking Hangzhou a smart and digital city and a livable paradise, the municipal government would continue its effort to boost the innovative development of digital economy, advocate digital reform and promote regional economic restructuring to set the pace for the development of digital economy across the nation. At last, Mr. Chen extended a sincere invitation to welcomeall of the people to Hangzhou,a citysuitable for living, traveling and working.

At the Dialogue,the delegates signed a joint initiative to promote the exchanges and cooperation between China and ASEAN local governments, and to safeguard the peace, stability, development and prosperity of the region. They further pledged toenhance friendly exchanges and mutually-beneficial cooperation in a variety of areasincluding the digital economy, smart city, capacity building in public health, think tank cooperation and local tourism,therebypromoting the communication and mutual learning among civilizations, and fostering closer people-to-people ties.