SCCC strengthens Sabah–Hainan economic and tourism cooperation

KOTA KINABALU (March 10): The Sabah China Chamber of Commerce (SCCC) recently held a formal exchange meeting with the Hainan Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs Association at the Hainan International Creative Port.

Both sides engaged in in-depth discussions on strengthening economic and trade cooperation, tourism collaboration, and the possibility of launching direct flights between Kota Kinabalu and Hainan, reaching several common understandings.

SCCC President Datuk Frankie Liew said that as Hainan continues to deepen its Free Trade Port policies and Sabah’s economy accelerates its recovery, cooperation between the two regions is entering a golden period of development.

He added that the Chamber will work closely with the Hainan Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs Association to promote economic, trade, cultural and tourism collaboration between Hainan and Malaysia, aiming to achieve more fruitful outcomes.

It is understood that in order to seize new opportunities arising from the customs closure operation of the Hainan Free Trade Port and to further strengthen economic and trade exchanges between Sabah, Malaysia and China, 11 members of the Sabah China Chamber of Commerce, led by Liew, visited the Hainan Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs Association on March 7. The delegation received a warm welcome from the Association’s President Pan Jiasen.

The study visit was led by Liew with the objective of deepening strategic cooperation between Sabah and the Hainan Free Trade Port while exploring new economic partnership opportunities. A formal exchange meeting was held from 7pm to 9pm at the conference room of the Hainan Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs Association, where both sides engaged in practical and in-depth discussions on enhancing bilateral cooperation.

During the meeting, both sides held substantive discussions focusing on two key themes: economic and trade connectivity between Kota Kinabalu and Hainan Province, and the establishment of friendly tourism cooperation.

In his remarks, Liew said the delegation was deeply impressed by the dynamic progress of the Hainan Free Trade Port and expressed sincere appreciation for the warm hospitality extended by Pan.
He noted that Sabah possesses abundant natural resources and unique eco-tourism assets, which complement Hainan’s industrial structure and development vision.

Liew also highlighted Sabah’s strengths in tropical fruits, seafood, and halal food processing, expressing hope that the Hainan Free Trade Port policies could facilitate the entry of more Sabah specialty products into the Chinese market.

On tourism cooperation, both sides discussed the feasibility of launching direct flights between Kota Kinabalu and Hainan.

Liew noted that Sabah is a renowned tourist destination in Malaysia while Hainan is China’s international tourism consumption centre. With highly complementary tourism resources, a direct air route would greatly facilitate people-to-people exchanges, encourage mutual tourist flows, and help build an internationally influential cross-border tourism corridor between Hainan and Malaysia.

Pan warmly welcomed the Sabah delegation and said it was an honour to engage in meaningful exchanges with friends from Sabah during the dinner and meeting.

He introduced the association’s work in supporting overseas Chinese entrepreneurs and promoting economic cooperation, adding that the organisation would actively utilise its platform to support Sabah enterprises seeking investment and business opportunities in Hainan.

Chen Wenpei, First-Level Researcher of the Haikou Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, also welcomed the SCCC delegation.

He noted that Hainan is accelerating the development of a globally influential Chinese-characteristic Free Trade Port, and that the customs closure will create unprecedented opportunities for overseas Chinese entrepreneurs.

Chen expressed strong support for the proposal of a direct air route and said he would actively coordinate with relevant authorities in Haikou to facilitate cooperation between businesses from both regions and create more favourable conditions for Sabah enterprises to invest and operate in Hainan.

Chen, Lin Mingxing (Vice President, Hainan Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs Association), Zhong Liuqiong (Vice President, Hainan Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs Association), Zhou Yuanyuan (Deputy Secretary-General, Hainan Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs Association) and Fu Shishi (Secretary-General, Haikou Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs Association) also introduced the strengths of their respective sectors and cooperation intentions.

They expressed willingness to establish a regular communication mechanism with SCCC to promote practical collaboration between enterprises from both sides in areas such as tropical agriculture, food processing, and cross-border e-commerce.

The visit marks a new milestone in cooperation between the two business organisations. Both sides agreed that overseas Chinese resources should be fully utilised as a bridge to build more exchange platforms and promote the implementation of tangible cooperation projects.

Liew also extended a cordial invitation to Pan, Chen and representatives from the Hainan overseas Chinese business community to visit Sabah to jointly explore new opportunities for cooperation between Sabah and Hainan under the Belt and Road Initiative, achieving mutual benefit and shared development.