Kota Kinabalu: Sabah is looking forward to more cooperation with China in areas such as green energy, manufacturing, high technology agriculture and smart city construction, among others, for mutual benefit and win-win private-public partnerships, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
He said China’s trade volume with Sabah registered an increase of 1.2 per cent for the first six months this year.
He said the total volume was valued at RM6.56 billion.
“As the economic and trade cooperation between Malaysia and China continue to progress, I look forward to more China trade and investments into Sabah,” he said at the Republic of China’s 74th National Day celebration here.
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Hajiji’s speech was read by Deputy Chief Minister II Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam.
On tourism, Hajiji said arrivals from China were also growing steadily since the full reopening of China’s border in March this year.
“For the first six months this year, there were 17,040 Chinese visitors — an increase of 680.6 per cent compared to only 2,188 in the corresponding period last year.
“Sabah is connected to seven major cities in China with 54 weekly flights and seat capacity of 9,861.
“We hope to see more air connectivity to increase visitor arrivals from China to Sabah,” he said.
“We are pleased that Sabah has remained a sought-after destination for Chinese visitors, either for leisure or business.
The upward trend in overall visitor arrivals to Sabah, totalling 1,198,536 arrivals from January to June of this year, is a good sign as this has generated RM2.45 billion tourism receipt for Sabah.
This represented a 69.1 per cent increase compared to the corresponding period last year,” he said.
Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah Tun Juhar Mahiruddin and his wife Toh Puan Norlidah R M Jasni as well as Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Kota Kinabalu Dr Huang Shifang and other State leaders were also present.
Meanwhile, China wants to strengthen its diplomatic and economic ties with Sabah, and Malaysia as a whole, for the long term.
China’s Consul General in Kota Kinabalu, Huang Shifang, said China and Malaysia have maintained their relationship over the years and seen growth in many fields, including economy and trade.
She said continued efforts were being made to ensure the healthy and stable deepening of relations.
“Again, last week, the Prime Minister was in China and met with our leaders, and high political trust was exchanged during the visit,” she said.
She said China would continue to deepen relations and promote a shared future between both nations, and see that the countries work together to explore new opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation for many years to come.
“The best way to celebrate our history is to write a new chapter for our future. Let’s work closely to deepen relations between China and Malaysia, especially Sabah, and explore new opportunities for win-win collaboration,” she said.
Earlier, Huang mentioned that Sabah remains among the top investment choices for China, with its abundance in natural resources as well as the similarities in culture.
She said the number of Chinese nationals coming to Sabah for leisure, work and investment had also increased over the years.
“We have also sent hundreds of locals from Sabah for training in China just this year alone,” she added.
On a related matter, Huang said a science and technology-based exhibition was currently being held at the state library in Tanjung Aru through a joint effort by the Chinese and Sabah governments.
She said the exhibition, free of charge to the public, has exhibits showcasing China’s various science and technology-related industries and would be held around the state over three years.
“This exhibition will be on for six months at the state library before moving on to other parts of Sabah until the three-year period is up,” she said.
Huang said students and industry players can take this opportunity to learn more about such matters and hopefully, explore the potential available in the sector.
Also present during the reception were Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin and wife Toh Puan Norlidah RM Jasni, state leaders, businessmen and other partners.
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