FUZHOU, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- East China's Fujian Province on Wednesday held online celebrations for the 20th anniversary of its sister-province relationship with Eastern Highlands in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
Ambassadors, provincial leaders and experts from both sides participated in the event, reviewing cooperative achievements over the past two decades and looking into the future of bilateral cooperation.
Don Sawong, PNG's new ambassador to China, said the PNG embassy in China and the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University have cooperated closely to promote the R&D of Juncao technology, as well as the construction of Juncao-related projects.
Juncao, which literally means "mushroom" and "grass," refers to a Chinese-invented technology using grass to grow mushrooms.
A total of 1,022 students from Eastern Highlands have come to China or participated in local training courses on Juncao and upland rice cultivation organized by the university, while some 3,700 farmers in PNG are engaged in their cultivation.
The successful cooperation between the two provinces has laid a solid foundation for PNG to unleash the potential of agricultural development, especially in rice farming, coffee, tea, cocoa growing and livestock breeding, Sawong said.
Statistics show that China made some 2.5 billion kina (about 700 million U.S. dollars) in direct investment in PNG in 2018. More than 40 large Chinese enterprises currently operate in PNG, creating many jobs for locals.
Eastern Highlands governor Peter Numu expressed hopes of deepening cooperation with Fujian in infrastructure construction, rural electrification, communications, education, as well as trade and economy. Enditem
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