Yangon, Nov 8 — With 38 days to go before the opening of the 13th International Day of the Belt and Road (Silk Road Festival) and the Global Belt and Road New Year Cultural Festival, Chen Entian, Chairman of the Silk Road International Guild Alliance, after visiting the Selangor & Kuala Lumpur Chan Clan Association and other well-known guild halls in Kuala Lumpur, travelled to Yangon, Myanmar, for a special visit to the century-old overseas Chinese community, the Teochew Association in Myanmar. Chen Xiuquan, President of the Teochew Association in Myanmar, together with core standing members of the association, warmly received Chen Entian and his entourage. The two sides held cordial and in-depth discussions on the inheritance of overseas Chinese communities, Silk Road friendship exchanges and international cooperation.
Founded in 1923, the Teochew Association in Myanmar is a century-old overseas Chinese association with profound heritage and great influence in Myanmar. For more than a hundred years, rooted in the local community and serving overseas Chinese, the association has been committed to connecting fellow townsfolk, serving overseas Chinese, inheriting culture and helping one another. It actively carries out fellowship activities, cultural inheritance, public welfare assistance and non-governmental exchanges between China and Myanmar. It is not only a spiritual home for Teochew people residing in Myanmar to gather and support one another, but also an important non-governmental bridge for economic and trade exchanges, cultural integration and people-to-people bonds between China and Myanmar, carrying forward the fine tradition of trade exchanges and good neighbourly relations along the ancient Silk Road.
During the discussion, Chen Entian spoke highly of the Teochew Association in Myanmar for its contributions over the past century to grassroots exchanges and the development of overseas Chinese communities along the Silk Road. He stated that the ancient Silk Road was not merely a route for economic and trade cooperation and cultural integration connecting the East and the West, but also a path for people-to-people bonds across mountains and seas, a shared road for peoples of all countries to coexist and build a better future hand in hand.
Over thousands of years, numerous trade guilds and overseas Chinese communities have sprung up along the Silk Road. Global hometown associations represented by Teochew associations have taken root in various countries and linked China with the rest of the world in response to the needs of economic, trade and cultural exchanges. They pass down the Silk Road spirit of trade prosperity and amity between nations from generation to generation and serve as an indispensable force for non-governmental international exchanges. The united strength of these hometown associations along the route is a precious resource and powerful driving force for the Belt and Road Initiative and mutual learning among civilizations worldwide.
Chen Entian pointed out that overseas Chinese guilds and associations are inheritors of Silk Road culture, practitioners of non-governmental cooperation and promoters of people-to-people connectivity. Therefore, the Silk Road International Guild Alliance sincerely welcomes brother guilds and associations from all countries and regions along the Silk Road to join the alliance. A regular exchange and cooperation platform will be established to share resources, complement each other’s strengths, empower one another and pursue coordinated development. Leveraging the geographical, kinship and industrial advantages of each guild, we will carry forward the essence of economy, trade and culture of the ancient Silk Road, deepen non-governmental friendly exchanges, enrich the cultural and people-to-people cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, inject continuous grassroots vitality into the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, and help all countries build a new era of the Silk Road featuring peace, connectivity and win-win outcomes.
This visit and exchange further strengthened the ties between the Silk Road International Guild Alliance and overseas Chinese communities in Myanmar, consolidating the foundation for coordinated development of non-governmental guilds along the Silk Road. At this critical countdown stage for the 13th International Day of the Belt and Road (Silk Road Festival), the exchange activities among Southeast Asian Silk Road guilds build momentum for the global fellowship and non-governmental friendly cooperation of overseas Chinese communities. It will continuously promote integration of overseas Chinese forces and cultural exchanges along the Silk Road, enabling Silk Road guilds to glow with new vitality in the new era.
