KUCHING: China is willing to assist Sarawak in its development, including infrastructure and technology, says Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China in Kuching, Cheng Guangzhong.
He said one example was high-end bridge construction, which required strong technical support and the manufacturing industry.
“China is well-known for its strong ability in infrastructure development – efficient, reliable, and having good credit in infrastructure development in Sarawak.
“By attracting local workers to participate in the construction, China itself is teaching them the skills,” he said on Wednesday (March 24).
He noted that last November, China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co had undertaken the project to construct the longest bridge in East Malaysia, the Batang Lupar Bridge in Sebuyau.
He said he was glad to see that the cooperation between China and Sarawak about trade, agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and the digital economy had deepened over time.
“China and Sarawak should strengthen the cooperation in manufacturing, digital economy, medical, agriculture, and marine economy, where there is great potential.”
Cheng noted that Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg had attached great importance to digitalisation and that he firmly supported the cooperation between Sarawak and China’s Huawei and Alibaba on the development of a digital economy.
“Strengthening our e-commerce cooperation is important to the digital economy of both sides and economic cooperation on other sectors.
“This is a good sector to work together, and China is certainly willing to strengthen cooperation in this field. We should help and learn from each other to create a win-win situation.”
Concerning agriculture, he said a Chinese company, Guangken, had done very well in rubber planting in Sarawak.
“In the future, China and Sarawak can carry out extensive cooperation on agricultural science and technology, under-forest economy, herbal medicine plantation, fruit plantation, and other sectors.”
He said the mutual understanding, cooperation, and closeness between the people of China and Sarawak had moved forward to a new stage.
“At present, Sarawak has established sister provinces and state with Fujian, Yunnan, and Shandong provinces in China and 26 Chinese cities including Quanzhou and Yantai have also established the relation of sister cities with Sarawak.”
Cheng added that there were now 27 Chinese enterprises in Sarawak and 28 projects under construction.
