On December 9, 2022, ASEAN-China Forum on Emergency Management Cooperation was held in hybrid format in Nanning, Guangxi with the theme "Strengthen Emergency Management for Sustainable Development of ASEAN and China. "
Xu Jia' ai, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Emergency Management of P. R. China, Xu Yongke, Vice Governor of People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Nadhapit Snidvongs, Chairman of ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management and Vice Minister of Interior of the Kingdom of Thailand attended the forum and delivered speeches.
Xu Jia' ai emphasized that China and ASEAN member states, all located in the Asia-Pacific region with the most severe natural disasters in the world, have carried out long-term practical cooperation in emergency management. Since the establishment of China-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management(AMMDM plus China), the two sides have jointly formulated and actively implemented the five-year work plan through continuous bilateral and multilateral cooperation. In the next step, both sides should strengthen cooperation in areas such as risk monitoring and early warning, disaster relief supplies, science and information technologies, deliver on the cooperation projects and launch the ASEAN-China Center for Emergency Management Cooperation(ACCEMC) soon.
Xu Yongke said Guangxi and ASEAN member states are in geographical proximity with cultural affinity and always look after one another like passengers in the same boat. Taking this Forum as an opportunity, we are willing to further strengthen cooperation in training and emergency industries, including drills and equipment research and development, and make joint efforts to build the ACCEMC, to improve the level of China-ASEAN emergency management cooperation.
Snidvongs noted that the Forum provides a good platform for exchanges and mutual learning. ASEAN is willing to work with China and other partners to jointly improve emergency management capacities and safeguard regional stability. He also reiterated ASEAN’ s commitment to building the ACCEMC with China. Several seminars were also held during the Forum, focusing on systemic disaster risks and risk management on earthquakes. Attendants of the Forum include representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of P. R. China, China International Development Cooperation Agency, People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, emergency management departments of other regions, the consulates general of ASEAN member states in Nanning, and United Nation’s agencies and international organizations.
By Wang Guangyuan, Department of International Cooperation and Rescue, Ministry of Emergency Management, China
