KOTA KINABALU: China sees huge potential in Sabah’s blue economy concept and is excited to explore opportunities together, says its Consul General Dr Huang Shifang.
She said that she sees the vast potential in this new concept, and feels that there is a lot of room to work together in some way.
“I think this has great potential. I think that Sabah and China will have room to collaborate in the blue economy,” she said.
Huang said this when asked at a media briefing here on Thursday (Aug 15) about how China sees Sabah's plan to venture into the blue economy.
Last November, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said he is pitching Sabah's new blue economy concept for its food processing sector to investors from China.
He said Chinese investors could collaborate with Sabah in developing the food sector and that this concept calls for sustainable use of ocean resources for economic development, generating jobs and improving livelihoods.
Hajiji had added that the blue economy comprises four main components; the harvesting of living resources (seafood and marine biotechnology), the extraction of non-living resources and the generation of new resources (minerals, energy, and freshwater).
There are 14 industries earmarked under the four main components, among them aquaculture, fisheries, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, oil and gas, renewables, shipping, blue carbon, and habitat protection and restoration.
Earlier in the briefing, Huang shared the main outcome of their Third Plenary Session which ran from July 15 to July 18 by saying that a resolution that laid out more than 300 important reform tasks were presented.
She said this is an important window for countries around the world to gain a better understanding of China’s efforts in promoting high quality development.
Huang added that China is striving for national rejuvenation through Chinese modernisation and has drawn global attention.
Touching on Malaysia-China relations and the way forward, she said as developing countries, China firmly supports each other in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and development rights, and the autonomy of choosing its own development path.
Huang said that this is a good example of the Five Principles; mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful co-existence.
She added that China will continue to develop friendships with all countries and would actively expand global partnerships based on equality, openness, and cooperation while adhering to the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness.
“We will continue the policy of developing friendship and partnership with our neighbors, promote common development across the world, and would only open ourselves ever wider to the outside world,” she said.
