Areas of cooperation being looked into include agriculture, education and infrastructure
KUCHING: China’s Yunnan Province is looking forward to strengthening its relationship with Sarawak.
Yunnan Foreign Affairs Office deputy director-general Yang Mu said Yunnan Province executive vice-governor Zong Guoying exchanged views with Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg regarding future cooperation.
“The two sides have reached a consensus in the next step of cooperation,” she said.
“We (Yunnan and Sarawak) are going to cooperate in the areas of agriculture, education and infrastructure.”
She said this to reporters after a Yunnan delegation paid a courtesy call on Abang Johari at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here yesterday.
When asked if there was a specific project that the two parties would focus on, Yang replied: “Because this is the first visit, we (Yunnan delegation and Chief Minister) had a general discussion on how we are going to move forward in the future.”
“It (the visit) is a site visit or survey visit from our side. We are going to study how we will put forward our cooperation,” she continued.
Yang added: “We are looking forward to a strong cooperation and sister-sister relationship in the future.”
In 2017, Yunnan Province established a sister relationship with Sarawak but this was the first time for the Yunnan government to organise a visit to Sarawak.
Apart from Zong and Yang, the Yunnan delegation also included China consulate-general in Kuching, Cheng Guangzhong; consul Jiang Ying, Yunnan Province Finance Department director-general Zhang Yansong, Bureau of Investment Promotion deputy director-general Wang Qingmei as well as Commission of Development and Reform deputy director-general Lu Wenxiang.