On April 10, Secretary General Ma Mingqiang welcomed a group of special guests to the ASEAN-China Centre: ASEAN students studying in Beijing's top universities. On behalf of the ACC, Mr. Ma handed over 45 basketballs, footballs and volleyballs (15 respectively) to the students, in support of the upcoming Beijing ASEAN Students' Games 2012, jointly organized by Student Associations of Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.

In an amicable conversation with the students, Mr. Ma shared his personal experience as a student and then as a diplomat, encouraged the students to cherish the opportunity to study in China and fully expose themselves to the Chinese society and people, and expected them to help forge closer ties between ASEAN and China.

Beijing ASEAN Students' Games 2012 will be held in the University of International Business and Economics on weekends from April 14 to May 12, with around 600 ASEAN students registered as athletes.