Mao Weiming, deputy secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and governor of the People's Government of Hunan Province, met in Changsha with Taizo Mikazuki, governor of Japan's Shiga Prefecture, and his entourage on the afternoon of August 1, 2023.

Hunan Vice Governor Qin Guowen attended.

On August 1, Hunan Governor Mao met with Shiga Governor Mikazuki in Changsha.

Governor Mao welcomed the guests and briefed them on Hunan's economic and social development. He noted that in 1983, Hunan and Shiga established a friendly provincial-prefectural relationship thanks to the "lake" bonds of Dongting Lake and Biwa Lake. It was also the inaugural instance of Hunan establishing an "international partnership" with another region. Over the past 40 years, both sides have made frequent high-level interactions, extensive projects cooperation, and active people-to-people and cultural exchanges. The Japanese-funded enterprises such as Heiwado have developed healthily in Hunan, and co-built projects such as "Friendship Forests", Hope Primary Schools, and rural health centers have been thriving.

Hunan is now setting the goals for the "Three Hubs and Four New Missions" blueprint drawn by President Xi Jinping, and stepping up the pace of high-quality development in an all-round way, which leaves plenty of cooperation space for Hunan and Shiga. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, and the 40th anniversary of the establishment of friendly relationship between Shiga Prefecture and Hunan Province. He expected both sides to take this opportunity to carry out deeper and wider exchanges and cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, agriculture, recreation and health, culture and tourism, and youth exchanges. We could promote friendly exchanges between China and Japan through peaceful Hunan-Shiga communications, and contribute to building China-Japan relations in accordance with the needs of the new era, he added.

The meeting.

Governor Mikazuki said this was his fourth visit to Hunan in the span of five years. He felt that Hunan is developing faster and undergoing significant changes, while the enthusiasm of Hunan people is always the same. He will also go to Zhijiang County to visit the Memorial Hall of the Anti-Japanese War and the Acceptance of the Japanese Surrender and lay flowers in the Peace Garden. He hoped that both sides, based on peace and friendship, will take the 40th anniversary of the friendly provincial-prefectural ties as a new starting point to strengthen collaboration in economy and trade, education, ecological and environmental protection, and medical and elderly care, so as to further exchanges and mutual understanding, enhance friendship, and achieve common development.

Photos taken by Liu Shangwen.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn