Premier Ghiz met recently with Governor Luo Baoming of Hainan Province, the Ambassador of China in Canada His Excellency Lan Lijun, and Ministers and senior officials from Hainan. The delegation was on Prince Edward Island last week to discuss trade and cooperation between the two jurisdictions.
Since 2001, cooperation between Prince Edward Island and Hainan has been guided by a sister-province agreement promoting mutually beneficial collaboration in areas such as student exchanges, faculty and curriculum exchanges, and tourism and golf industry development. Last week, Premier Ghiz and the Governor Luo signed a Memorandum of Understanding which is intended to further enhance collaborative initiatives in the areas of lobster and seafood trade, tourism, technology, water management, and education and skills training.
The Chinese delegation also met representatives of the University of Prince Edward Island and Holland College. Both schools are involved in providing training and expertise in Hainan Province.
“We are very committed to enhancing our collaborative efforts between Prince Edward Island and China and, in particular, with our sister province Hainan. This new agreement is an opportunity to strengthen our relationship and reconfirm our commitment to promoting trade and cooperation between our provinces in existing as well as new areas,” said Premier Robert Ghiz. “This is a very good time to be expanding our efforts in China. The recent decision of the Chinese government to grant Canada Approved Destination Status provides an opportunity to promote PEI tourism in China. As well, with improved air access to China, there are opportunities to increase exports of products, such as lobster and other seafood.”
Hainan is an Island province of 8 million people located in southern China.