A delegation from China's southern province of Guangdong on Sunday wrapped up a four-day visit to Ireland, where they expressed strong interest in furthering economic and trade cooperation with the island country in west Europe.
The delegation was led by Hu Chunhua, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the Guangdong Provincial CPC Committee.
Guangdong has been known for the various pilot projects and the vitality of its economy as China gradually opened up and carried out reforms over the past decades. It had a gross domestic product (GDP) of about 1.16 trillion U.S. dollars in 2016, accounting for 10.69 percent of China's total GDP and over 28 percent of China's international trade.
In a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, Hu said his visit was aimed at further implementing the consensus reached by leaders of the two countries, strengthening communication and exchanges in all sectors and expanding economic and trade ties between local governments.
While joining hands to build the Belt and Road, Hu said Guangdong hopes to deepen friendly and cooperative relations with Ireland, and enhance pragmatic cooperation in a wide range of fields, including science&technology, education and agriculture.
For his part, Kenny said Ireland and China enjoy long-term friendship and that bilateral relations develop smoothly.
The Irish prime minister said his country is willing to boost communication and exchanges with Guangdong and China at large. He added Ireland will continue to provide convenience of investment for China and China's Guangdong Province.
During the four-day visit to Ireland from Thursday to Sunday, Hu attended a business roundtable meeting, in which over 120 Guangdong and Irish entrepreneurs participated.
At the roundtable meeting, Hu said Guangdong in the years ahead will focus on restructuring its economic structure and accelerating its industrial transformation and upgrading.
He said his province will remain committed to the development of the "innovation-oriented" economy, adding that his province will increase efforts to promote green, circular, and low-carbon development.
Hu said he hopes to enhance friendly cooperation between local governments, expand two-way investment and increase trade levels. He said he hopes to strengthen cooperation in science&technology and education, boost cultural and people-to-people exchanges, so as to open up a new prospect for mutually beneficial cooperation.
During his visit, Hu and his delegation also visited Shannon Free Zone, which was established in 1959.
Ireland is the second leg of Guangdong delegation's current three-nation tour. After winding up visits to Israel and Ireland, the delegation will travel to Britain.