The Consul General of the Republic of Fiji in Shanghai Dr. Chan took an official visit on June 12 to Hangzhou at the invitation of the China Council for the Promotion of the International Trade (CCPIT) Zhejiang. The trip aimed to rekindle the decade-old friendship between Fiji and the wealthy Chinese eastern province to further translate the goodwill into concrete cooperation.

During the trip, Dr. Chan met with Mr. Chen Zong Yao, the Chairman of CCPIT Zhejiang and Mr. Zhang Qing Shan, the Vice Chairman. Mr. Zhang welcomed the visit of Dr. Chan and made a brief introduction on the major economic sectors of the Province. To seek deeper cooperation especially in the areas of fishery and tourism, both sides agreed to capitalize on the existing platforms and tap further into the sister-city relationships between.

After the meeting, Dr Chan took an inspection trip to Ant Financial to have a better idea of Alibaba’s financing arm. The two sides had a fruitful discussion on how to digitalize the Fijian economy and fit Fiji into the global tourism strategy of Alibaba, via the group’s platforms of Alipay and Fliggy. Last year, there were 50,000 Chinese tourists travelling to Fiji, whose market Alipay has barely penetrated.