Diplomatic envoys expect closer partnership when touring China's Guangdong

Diplomats from 37 countries have expressed the hope to enhance cooperation with China during a five-day tour to south China's economic powerhouse Guangdong Province.

From June 1 to 5, the event "Set Sail for the 15th Five-Year Plan: China's Growth, World Opportunity (Guangdong)," jointly hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Guangdong provincial government, drew 60 diplomatic envoys to Guangdong to experience economic vitality and explore deeper cooperation, visiting sectors including electric vehicles, green energy and rural revitalization.

Khalil Hashmi, Pakistan's Ambassador to China, said that Pakistan is advancing an energy transition from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy, and that China leads globally in hydropower, nuclear, wind, solar and hydrogen energy. The country is negotiating with Chinese enterprises to launch more projects and lift bilateral energy cooperation to new heights.

"Guangdong has excelled in a number of frontier technologies. AI is certainly one of them, the low altitude economy is another one. And Guangzhou has sister city relationships with many Pakistani cities and provinces. So, under that framework also, we look forward to having an enhanced level of cooperation in the new technologies, new materials, new energy," said the ambassador in Guangzhou, the provincial capital.

Shenzhen, one of China's largest cities, boasts nearly 40 percent of all robot enterprises in Guangdong, serving as a core growth engine for China's robotics industry.

"Shenzhen, for me, is the symbol of innovation, frontier of the most progressing technologies, so it showed that how China can open itself to the world," said Slovakia's Ambassador to China Milan Lajciak.

While visiting Zhuhai City, the envoys observed the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, which has cut driving time between Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao from about three hours to roughly 45 minutes, improving connectivity in the Greater Bay Area.

"The visit here to see Zhuhai, the connectivity with Hong Kong and Macao tells us in no uncertain terms that connectivity, infrastructure must be going, and I think, for myself, for other diplomats that came on this trip, that message is very clear," said Robert Lee, Ambassador of Fiji to China.

Many of the visiting diplomats expressed their hopes for future collaboration with China.

"I'm really grateful that China has helped my country to develop so [much on] the practical development in infrastructure, health, and education as well. I look forward to more beneficial cooperation in the future," said Ambassador of Solomon Islands to China Barrett Salato.

"I hope that we can also enhance and deepen our relations at all sort of levels, on the business level, on the academia. We also have universities in Cyprus, they can work together on the common projects, and maybe on joint degrees," said Ambassador of Cyprus to China Koula Sophianou.

Zhuhai and Macao have jointly held a series of activities promoting marine protection in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) to mark the World Oceans Day which falls on Monday.

The activities involved people, especially students, to clean up beaches, conserve sea bed and study marine science.

In the waters around Zhuhai's Miaowan Island, a conservation team consisting of divers across the GBA conducted staghorn coral monitoring and marine debris cleanup. Divers recorded coral growth and marine data during the patrol, providing information for nearshore ecological restoration and regular monitoring.

A two-day parent-child study camp named "young ocean guardians" was also launched to extend ocean knowledge to the participating families, and immerse them into coral protection, marine waste management and biodiversity conservation.