On April 15, Dai Zhen, Director-General of the Foreign Affairs Office of Hainan Province met with Paulette Bethel, Ambassador of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas to China, who was visiting Haikou to attend the 5th China International Consumer Products Expo. The two sides carried out in-depth discussions in hopes of strengthening exchanges and cooperation in a wide variety of areas such as culture, tropical high-efficiency agriculture, global free trade zone and port partnerships, tourism, and education.

Dai Zhen gave a detailed introduction to the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) and related preferential policies to Ambassador Bethel and her delegation, and thanked the Embassy of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas for their continuing interest in and support of the province of Hainan. Dai Zhen expressed willingness to strengthen communication with the Embassy in hopes of establishing a partnership between the Hainan FTP and Freeport in Grand Bahama Island in order to achieve resource sharing, complementary advantages, mutual benefits, and win-win results. Dai welcomed the Embassy to carry out high-level mutual visits, as well as exchanges and practical cooperation in the areas of tourism, agriculture, fisheries, economy, trade, education, and more, sharing in the development opportunities of the Hainan FTP.

Ambassador Bethel sincerely thanked the Foreign Affairs Office of Hainan Province for making such meticulous and thoughtful arrangements for the visit, and spoke of the deep impression that Hainan’s tropical high-efficiency agriculture, especially the coconut industry, had made on her. Bethel also expressed appreciation for the benefits she gained through attending the Expo. Hainan and the Bahamas are quite similar in climate, industry structure, and many other areas, and the Bahamas hopes to learn from Hainan’s successes in these fields. The Embassy hopes to serve as a bridge in order to promote exchanges and cooperation between the two sides in many areas including the coconut industry, student exchange programs, tourism, economy, and trade.

During their visit to Hainan, Ambassador Bethel and her delegation attended the 5th China International Consumer Products Expo and met with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports of Hainan Province, Hainan Normal University, the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, and other local departments and institutes.