China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Forum (CAECF) 2019 was held in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on September 17-18, 2019. The Forum was sponsored by Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China and the People’s Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and jointly organized by Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center (FECO) of MEE / China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Center and the Department of Ecology and Environment of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region with the support of ASEAN Secretariat. Representatives of environmental authorities, businesses and financial and research institutions at home and abroad as well as international organizations and the ASEAN Secretariat attended the Forum.

Song Xiaozhi, Counsel of the Department of International Cooperation of MEE, said in her opening remarks that China has achieved significant results in the environmental cooperation with ASEAN countries. Song called on all parties to participate in the green development of BRI, enhance China-ASEAN partnership for eco-friendly urban development, and strengthen ASEAN-China communication and cooperation in plastic waste reduction and climate change adaptation of coastal cities, so as to make greater contributions to improving regional and global environment.

Zhai Guiying, Deputy Director of China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Center, stated that the China-ASEAN environmental cooperation mechanism has become an important platform for regional South-South environmental cooperation. It is hoped that under this mechanism, the two sides could find more opportunities for cooperation, so as to further promote China-ASEAN cooperation in environmental protection, such as eco-city construction and the treatment of marine plastic litter.

Lee Yoong Yoong, Director of Community Affairs Directorate of ASEAN Secretariat, noted that ASEAN’s undergoing large-scale urbanization may put pressure on the protection of ecological environment, especially marine environment. Therefore, eco-city construction and marine ecosystem protection should be priority areas of China-ASEAN environmental cooperation.

To promote extensive cooperation between Guangxi and ASEAN countries in ecology and environment, Tan Qingrui, Director General of the Department of Ecology and Environment of Guangxi, stressed the importance of ecological and environmental protection for pursuing high-quality development. Guangxi will deepen exchanges and explore cooperation in sustainable management of marine ecosystem, and strengthen the construction of environmental information cooperation and exchange mechanism to effectively enhance the China-ASEAN open platform.

During the Forum, guests shared their ideas on five topics: eco-city construction and the sustainable management of marine ecosystem; regional green growth and sustainable development; promoting regional synergies between environmental protection and economic growth by eco-friendly cities, sustainable management of marine ecosystem and marine plastic litter governance; and climate change adaptation and technological innovation of green industry.

Representatives attending the Forum pointed out that it is important to further expand international cooperation platforms and networks and pool in resources from all sides to facilitate the sustainable development of China and ASEAN. It is also important to develop the environmental information cooperation and communication mechanism, improve international environmental governance system, promote the development of China-ASEAN environmental cooperation demonstration platform, deepen China-ASEAN partnership for the development of eco-friendly cities, jointly promote practical cooperation between China and ASEAN in marine eco-system protection, and establish a regional community for environmental cooperation.

China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Forum has been convened successfully for nine sessions in China. It has become an important platform for regional high-level dialogues on environmental cooperation, which serves as a major channel for China and ASEAN to discuss environmental cooperation and a crucial bridge linking China and ASEAN communities involved in environmental cooperation.