On 20 April 2018, ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) and Beijing Television Station (BTV)co-organized the Launching Ceremony of ASEAN Documentary “Hi! ASEAN—The Belt and Road Initiative of ASEAN” at BTV. Addressed the event were Ms. Kong Roatlomang, Director of Education, Culture and Tourism Division of ACC, Mr. Li Lingtao, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of BTV, and H.E. Mr. Jose Santiago Sta. Romana, Ambassador of the Philippines to China. Nearly 170 representatives from ASEAN Embassies in China, relevant international organizations，tourism industries and media attended the event.
Ms. Kong Roatlomang read the remarks of Secretary-General Yang Xiuping of ACC. Secretary-General Yang said that ASEAN and China are good neighbours and strategic partners that enjoy geographical proximity, cultural affinity and strong bonds. ASEAN-China relations have developed from a period of growth to a period of maturity. Tourism exchanges and cooperation are an important part of ASEAN-China cooperation. The beautiful scenery, splendid culture, diverse ethnic customs, delicious food and convenient transportation are the main reasons why Chinese tourists love ASEAN. In order to let Chinese tourists know the rich tourism resources, new attractions, numerous natural and cultural heritages of ASEAN as well as the way of life of the people of ASEAN, ACC collaborated with BTV to produce ASEAN Tourism Documentary named Hi! ASEAN in 10 ASEAN countries in 2017, grasping the opportunity of ASEAN-China Year of Tourism Cooperation. The unique visual angle of the documentary would make it an important channel for the Chinese people to understand ASEAN and promote the tourism exchanges and cooperation between China and ASEAN. The year 2018 marks the 15th anniversary of ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership and was designated as the ASEAN-China Year of Innovation.ACC would like to join hands with all friends of ASEAN and China, forge ahead with an innovative spirit to fulfill the expectations of our peoples and leaders and lift the ASEAN-China practical cooperation and strategic partnership to a new height.
Mr. Li Lingtao expressed warm congratulations to the documentary on behalf of BTV. He said that 2018 is the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. ASEAN has entered the second fifty years. It also marks the 15th anniversary of ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership. The ASEAN-China relationship was moving from a growing period to a mature period of upgrading. Each party is making positive contributions to future cooperation. Through the way of documentary, Hi! ASEAN not only records the daily life of ASEAN people, but also presents the significance and value of the history and culture of ASEAN. It also keeps the important images of the common cultural treasures of all mankind and would be a wonderful and panoramic documentary of the culture and history of 10 ASEAN Member States.BTV hoped to take Hi! ASEAN as an opportunity to carry out various cultural exchanges and cooperation with ACC and ASEAN countries to provide a rich content for the exchanges between people from China and ASEAN and to make new contribution to the building of ASEAN-China Community with a Shared Future.
Ambassador Romana expressed his heartfelt congratulations to the documentary. He said that the documentary is very timely since ASEAN and China have recently issued the ASEAN-China Joint Statement on Tourism Cooperation. Both ASEAN and China were considering the establishment of a high-level cooperation mechanism between tourism authorities, facilitation of tourist visits, sharing of data and tourism statistics, and undertaking joint promotion campaigns including activities carried out by ACC. Both sides also agreed to promote industry standards and programmes to advance sustainable tourism; support the participation of business communities and tourism segments in travel marts, exhibitions and tourism festivals and encourage education and training institutions to strengthen cooperation linkages in tourism information exchange and human resource development. He commended that the ASEAN tourism documentary Hi! ASEAN will further deepen the Chinese people's understanding of ASEAN and strengthen the friendship of people from ASEAN and China. He hoped that through this documentary, more Chinese friends will further appreciate the diversity of ASEAN countries and be encouraged to visit all 10ASEAN countries.
Hi! ASEAN was BTV’s first overseas documentary using 4K technology and the first Chinese 4K film to photograph the culture and scenery of ASEAN. The most advanced 8K time-lapse photography technology was also used in the documentary to show the most perfect quality. During the shooting process, ACC and shooting crew received strong support and valuable advice from ASEAN Embassies in China, ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN National Tourism Organizations (NTOs), Air Asia and relevant tourism stakeholders in ASEAN. The whole documentary is divided into six episodes (50mins each episode) according to themes of clothing, food, live, travel, purchase and ecology, in the form of "visual story", and would present the way of life of ASEAN people. The documentary is being edited and expected to be broadcast in mid-2018 at BTV Documentary Channel, which would reach out to 62.35 million families in China.
During the ceremony, some trailers of the documentary were released for the first time to provide the guests with a fresh and breath-taking visual experience, from different angles, such as beautiful scenery, characters and stories. All the beautiful sceneries and the true stories were played for the first time after ten-month shooting and collecting large amount of material.
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