Kuantan Day 2019 in Qinzhou: The Marvelous Cooperation Between the Two Cities

Xu Junhao Zhou He

China and Malaysias bond can be dated far back. After years of efforts， the two peoples are getting closer than ever. Against this background， on November 11， 2019， more than 60 people， including member of Pahang State Legislative Assembly， member of Pahang EXCO， and Chairman of Pahang State Local Government and Housing Committee YB. Encik Abd Rahim bin Muda， President of Kuantan Municipal Council YH. Dato Haji Hamdan bin Hussin， officials of Kuantan City， artists， athletes， youth representatives and entrepreneurs arrived in Qinzhou City， Guangxi， kicking off the 4-day Kuantan Day 2019.

Kuantan Day is a part of “Two Festivals for the Two Cities” which was proposed by then Mayor of Kuantan City Datuk Dzulkefly during the 12th China-ASEAN Expo in 2015. “Two Festivals for the Two Cities” is a proposition that brings Qinzhou Day to Kuantan and Kuantan Day to Qinzhou.

Since the inception of Kuantan Day， Qinzhou has become one of the must-go destinations for government leaders and officials when they visit Guangxi. Kuantan Day 2019 this year included rich activities such as exchange of youth among universities， evening gala， sports， and visits to Guangxi Qinzhou Free Trade Port Area， China-Malaysia Industrial Park and the exhibition center of Qinzhou Port Area of China （Guangxi） Pilot Free Trade Zone， as well as meetings between the leaders， deepening the exchanges and cooperation between the two sides on politics， economy， culture and sports.

Abd spoke highly of the evening gala： “Personally， the evening gala is one of the best shows that I have ever seen in my life， as we could enjoy different cultures of two cities from two countries. Hopefully， there will be more activities like this in the future.”

In the meeting between the leaders of the two municipal governments， a series of cooperative consensus was reached， which laid a foundation for the further close exchanges and deep cooperation between the two cities. On November 13， Wang Gebing， Secretary of Municipal Party Committee of Qinzhou， met with Abd and Dato Hamdan and put forward four suggestions on promoting the exchange and cooperation between the two cities. The first is to jointly promote the long-lasting friendship between Qinzhou and Kuantan and promote the cooperation in economy， culture and tourism between the two cities so as to promote closer cooperation of “Two Countries， Twin Parks”. The second is to jointly promote the two-way investment between Qinzhou and Kuantan. The third is to accelerate the construction of Kuantan Port and promote its cooperation with Qinzhou Port. The fourth is to promote people-to-people exchanges between the two cities to achieve frequent cultural exchanges.

Abd Rahim Muda fully agreed with the cooperation proposal put forward by Wang Gebing. He said that Malaysia had always attached great importance to cooperation with China. It was hoped that the two cities would strengthen communication and make joint efforts to turn the proposals discussed today into plans and realities in the future. It was believed that the vision discussed by the two sides today would surely become an important driving force for the economic growth of the two cities in the near future.

Currently， facing huge opportunities such as the Western Land-Sea New Transportation Channel （WLSNTC） and Qinzhou Port Area of China （Guangxi） Pilot Free Trade Zone， Qinzhou is making efforts to promote the construction of infrastructure， making the WLSNTC more smooth， strengthening the innovation of systems and implementing more open policies， so as to build a hub city of WLSNTC under the Belt and Road Initiative. Against this background， Tan Pichang， Mayor of Qinzhou， proposed that the two sides take this event as an opportunity to jointly seize the development opportunity， carry out all-round exchanges and cooperation in various fields， work together to promote the better and faster development of the “Two Countries， Twin Parks” between China and Malaysia， and jointly build friendly relations between Qinzhou and Kuantan into a model of cooperation between China and Malaysia.