KK, Xi’an sign Friendship MoU
Kota Kinabalu City and Xi’an City, People’s Republic of China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of Friendship and Cooperation at the Xi’an Municipal Hall yesterday.
KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu City and Xi’an City, People’s Republic of China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of Friendship and Cooperation at the Xi’an Municipal Hall Monday.
KK Mayor Datuk Nordin Siman signed the document on behalf of Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) while Vice Mayor Wang Lin of Xi’an Municipal People’s Government signed on behalf of his government.
Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew, who led a 12-member delegation from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) and Sabah Tourism Board (STB), and Mayor of Xi’an, Li Mingyuan witnessed the signing ceremony, attended by the Secretary-General of the General Office of Xi’an Municipality, Chen Changchun, Director of Xi’an Foreign Affairs Office, Qiang Sheng, Director of Xi’an Culture and Tourism Bureau, Wang Qinghua, Deputy Director of Xi’an Investment Bureau, Yan Jing Zhengbin and Deputy Director of Xi’an Education Bureau, Yan Xiubin.
Liew, who is also Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, said the MoU was the fruit of a series of talks and consultation on possible cooperation between the two cities of Kota Kinabalu and Xi’an City.
“I am glad to have met the Mayor of Xi’an and exchanged notes with him,” she added.
The MoU pledges to promote tourism cooperation, places of interest, tourism players, cultural exchange, education programmes, resource sharing and closer collaboration, and to promote economic and trade cooperation and goodwill between the two cities.
Mayor Li has accepted the minister’s invitation to come to Sabah next year for the signing of the Memorandum of Implementation that will cover education, culture, tourism and trade.
He has assigned two municipal officers to follow up on the inking of the MoU.
“One good news is that Xi’an Municipality has in principle made a scholarship offer to qualified Sabah students to study in Xi’an,” said Liew.
She was accompanied by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary William Baya, Nordin, STB Chairman Ken Pan Ying On and President of Sabah-China Chamber of Commerce (SCCC), Datuk Frankie Liew.
Meanwhile, Nordin, who also spoke, said Chinese tourists constituted the highest number of international visitors to Sabah.
“For this year alone, from January to June, they have hit the 316,887 mark. The direct flights between Kota Kinabalu and a number of cities in China have contributed to the increasing numbers of tourists exchange between Sabah and China. I believe the fostering of friendship between Xi’an and Kota Kinabalu will benefit both cities from the perspectives of tourism, culture and business,” he said.
The minister’s delegation included DBKK Director of Valuation Department, Lifred Wong, Director of Economics, Tourism and International Relations Bureau, Fauziahton Ag Samad, Deputy President of SCCC, Dato’ Soh Poh Son, STB Senior Marketing Manager, Tay Shu Lan, Assistant Digital Marketing Manager, Khung Wen Ying and Liew’s Private Secretary, Helen Muhammari.
Xi’an is a large city and capital of Shaanxi Province in central China. It marks the beginning of the famous Silk Road. Xi’an is the cradle of Chinese civilisation and the ancient capital city of 15 Chinese dynasties. Today it has a population of nine million with two million vehicles.
Among the archaeological sites in Xi’an’s surrounding plains are the famed Bingmayong (amazing Army of Terra Cotta Warriors), where 8,000 life-size, handmoulded statues of the warriors were buried with China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. He mobilised 700,000 men to complete the project in his life time.