From June 23 to 28, 2026, Hon. Eric Sau'eha, Premier of Rennell and Bellona (Renbel) Province, Solomon Islands, and his delegation visited Hainan to participate in the “Training Course on Tropical Agricultural Product Processing Technologies for South Pacific Island Countries,” hosted by China's Ministry of Commerce and organized by the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences.

On June 24, Xie Jing, Vice Governor of Hainan Province, met with the delegation in Haikou. Barrett Salato, Ambassador of the Solomon Islands to China, accompanied the delegation to the meeting. Xie extended a warm welcome to Hon. Eric Sau'eha, Premier of Renbel Province, and Ambassador Salato, briefly reviewed the history of friendly exchanges and cooperation between Hainan and Renbel, and introduced the delegation to the policies and industrial advantages of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), as well as recent developments since the launch of island-wide special customs operations.

Xie noted that in May 2025, the two provinces signed a letter of intent to establish sister-province relations. She hoped that the two provinces would build regular communication channels through the tropical agricultural product processing technology training program and continue to deepen practical cooperation in tropical agriculture, green energy, marine fisheries, cultural tourism and people-to-people exchanges, and infrastructure connectivity to solidify the sister-province relationship.

Premier Sau'eha expressed strong appreciation for the Hainan FTP's development and reiterated his province's firm adherence to the One-China principle. He stated that Renbel boasts abundant tropical agricultural, marine ecological, and tourism resources, aligning closely with Hainan's developmental endowments. The province is willing to leverage Hainan's wealth of experience in island development, make good use of the FTP's opening-up policies, and deepen cooperation in fisheries and marine resource management, tourism development and cultural exchanges, agricultural innovation and food safety, infrastructure and connectivity, as well as talent cultivation.

Ambassador Salato noted that the bilateral relationship between his country and China was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2023, with more than 40 cooperation agreements signed, laying a solid foundation for subnational collaboration. He suggested transforming ideas for cooperation in agriculture, culture and tourism, and infrastructure into practical projects to continuously strengthen the bilateral strategic relationship through local sister-city partnerships.

During its visit to Hainan, the delegation engaged in in-depth exchanges with relevant provincial departments, research institutes, and enterprises. They conducted site tours of tropical agricultural research demonstration bases and related industrial parks, gaining a thorough understanding of the policy advantages of the Hainan Free Trade Port and development experiences in the deep processing of tropical agricultural products, tropical crop cultivation and industrial development, and international trade.