On August 30, the celebration for the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the ROK was held both online and offline by Gyeongsangbuk-do of the ROK and its five Chinese international friendship provinces, namely Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Henan Province, Shaanxi Province, Hunan Province and Jilin Province. Lee Dal-hee, Vice Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Tu Jingchang, Deputy Consul General of China in Busan, attended the celebration held in the ROK on site, while representatives from the five above-mentioned Chinese provinces (autonomous region) attended the event online. Bai Yuzhen, Director-General of Ningxia Foreign Affairs Office (NXFAO), delivered a speech and Cai Ju, Deputy Director-General of Ningxia Culture and Tourism Department, introduced and promoted Ningxia’s cultural and tourist resources.

Lee Dal-hee said in his speech that the celebration has far-reaching significance, which would serve as a new starting point to further promote friendship between the two sides and facilitate the sound and stable development of China-ROK relations.

Tu Jingchang expressed his confidence and expectations that Gyeongsangbuk-do and its five Chinese international friendship provinces will take this opportunity to foster greater policy synergy and expand cooperation so as to bring sub-national practical cooperation to a new level.

Bai Yuzhen expressed that fruitful results have been delivered in economic and trade cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and youth exchanges since the establishment of friendly relations between Ningxia and Gyeongsangbuk-do. Holding the celebration is not only a concrete action to implement the consensus reached by the presidents of China and the ROK, but also an effort to promote China-ROK relations through sub-national cooperation.

Other activities were also arranged including theatrical performances, promotion of cultural and tourist resources and award ceremony of the painting and video competition. Witnessed by all participants, Ningxia Library and Gyeongbuk Library signed an agreement of friendly relations.

Ningxia has contributed to and benefited from the development of friendly relations between China and the ROK. With extensive exchanges and cooperation carried out in the fields of economy, trade, investment and education, the friendship between Ningxia and Gyeongsangbuk-do has been consolidated and flourishing. Official exchanges between the two sides was initiated in 2004 and since then the friendly relations have developed steadily, yielding fruitful results. The two sides were officially tied as international friendship provinces in October, 2021, with official and non-governmental exchanges reinforcing each other while economic cooperation and cultural exchanges advancing in parallel. Going forward, the NXFAO will take the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China-ROK diplomatic relations as an opportunity to fully implement the consensus reached by the presidents of the two countries, building a platform for exchanges to facilitate policy coordination, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bond between Ningxia and the ROK. In so doing, the NXFAO aims to make greater contribution to promoting China-ROK relations in the new era and pursuing stable and sustained progress in this regard.