The Third Joint Committee Meeting for Cooperation and Development between the State of Tasmania and Fujian Province was held via video links on September 1. Guo Ningning, Executive Vice Governor of Fujian, and Guy Barnett, Minister for State Development of Tasmania, addressed the meeting. Leaders from relevant departments of the Joint Committee, and observers from two pairs of sister cities, namely Fuzhou and Hobart, Putian and Launceston, also attended the gathering.

In her opening remarks, Executive Vice Governor Guo Ningning highlighted the frequent high-level visits, dynamic people-to-people exchanges and fruitful win-win cooperation since the establishment of sister-state/province relations. She commended the Joint Committee’s role as a clearinghouse for information between the two sides. After briefing Fujian’s broad prospects in digital, marine, green, culture and tourism economy, she expressed hope that both sides will continue to step up economic information-sharing, and boost exchanges between governments, peoples, as well as between academic and cultural institutions, in a bid to further strengthen ties and deliver more real results.

Minister Barnett noted the longevity and foundations on which the sister relationship is built. He believed that the meeting will set the path forward for the next chapter in the bilateral relations. He concluded with a hope that two sides will strengthen the social ties and work together on some joint initiatives that will have benefits for both sides.

Competent authorities from Fujian and Tasmania discussed wide-ranging topics, including education, agriculture, commerce, tourism and culture. They identified cooperation priorities and charted the way forward for common development.

At the end of the meeting, Luo Guansheng, Executive Vice President of Fujian People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, reaffirmed Fujian FAO’s commitment to beefing up bilateral cooperation and relations by working closely with relevant departments of the Joint Committee.

Fujian and Tasmania signed the Agreement on Establishing the Joint Committee for Cooperation and Development when President Xi Jinping visited Australia in 2014. The consensus reached and outcomes scored under this mechanism have turbocharged the sister relations.