An official dinner tonight at the Adelaide Town Hall will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the South Australia-Shandong sister state relationship.

The Premier Jay Weatherill will formally welcome Shandong Province Vice Governor Xia Geng to South Australia and will unveil a 30th anniversary bronze sculpture called “The Bridge”, jointly produced by Tim Thomson (SA) and Chi Hao (Shandong).

A number of Memoranda of Understanding will also be signed, including:

• An Exchange and Cooperation MoU for the South Australia/Shandong Cooperation and Development Forum and high level working group between the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Shandong Provincial Foreign Affairs Office
• A Science Technology Commercialisation Partnership MoU between the Shandong Academy of Science and the Department of State Development
• A Friendly City Cooperative Action Plan for the Yantai Municipal Government and Charles Sturt Council.

The Vice Governor will award the Ambassador of Friendship of Shandong Province by Shandong People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries to former Adelaide Lord Mayor Alfred Huang.

Background

China is South Australia’s largest export partner with export value of $2.3 billion or 19.8 per cent of total exports in the 12 months to June 2016.

The government’s South Australia-China Engagement Strategy sets out how South Australia can capitalise on China’s demand for goods and services.

www.statedevelopment.sa.gov.au/investment/china-engagement-strategy

Quotes attributable to Investment and Trade Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith

The South Australian Government is delighted to welcome the Shandong delegation to South Australia to celebrate 30 years of our sister state relationship.

This week is all about showing the delegation that South Australia is open for business and investment from China. In January 2016, the China Consul-General opened in Adelaide, providing further opportunities to promote South Australia’s tourism, agriculture and education offerings to the Chinese market.

In May the Bank of China opened, the 10th branch in Australia and the first for our state. The bank is helping Chinese businesses invest in Adelaide and to also trade with local businesses.

In another positive move, in July we signed a deal with China Southern Airlines for direct flights from Adelaide to Guangzhou three times a week.