Kota Kinabalu: Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Musa Aman led Sabah government leaders and local business community leaders and dignitaries to grace the 2025 Spring Festival Reception celebration hosted by the Consulate General of The People’s Republic of China at the Sabah International Convention Centre on Thursday.
Chinese Consulate General Dr Huang Shifang presented Musa with a commemorative souvenir after the VIPs participated in the tossing of the Yee Sang on stage.
She hailed the recent meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Beijing for enhancing China and Malaysia relationship at crucial stages of national development and rejuvenation for a shared future, helping each other achieve their development goals.
Present were Musa's consort Toh Puan Faridah Tusin, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and wife, State Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun, State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Christina Liew and State Secretary Datuk Seri Sr Safar Untong.
“The Spring Festival is China's oldest and most important traditional festival," said Huang.
“The Spring Festival is becoming more global, and is embraced by more and more people around the world. Thank you all for joining us to celebrate the arrival of the 2025 Year of the Snake,” said Huang, adding that China and Sabah have achieved significant progress in various sectors.
Hajiji hailed Sabah and Malaysia's close ties with China with mutually beneficial achievements from the enhanced cooperation between the people of both countries.
“The Sabah Government hopes to work closely with the Chinese Consulate General to take Sabah-China relations to another level, which will benefit the people of both countries.
“We are proud that the Chinese New Year is not only celebrated by the Chinese community but also people of various races and cultures in the State,” Hajiji said.
He said the State Government would continue to focus on economic recovery and advance the development agenda through the Sabah Maju Jaya direction.
Huang noted that 2024 marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia.
“Sabah plays an important role in building a community with a shared future.
“The sister city relationship between Kota Kinabalu and the Chinese city of Guilin was established. Two deputy speakers, several cabinet ministers, assistant ministers and state assemblymen visited China.”
Huang recalled that the Sabah Government successfully organised the Malaysia (Sabah)-China Business Summit and Expo. Frequent exchanges of visits were made between Chinese and Sabah business delegations, aiming to explore new cooperation opportunities.
She said the Kibing photovoltaic glass production base project has gone into operation and will continue to grow with further investment. The power plant project with China Energy Construction as the contractor has also started smoothly.
She noted that 16 cities in China, including Taipei and Kaohsiung, now have direct flights to Sabah, and as of November last year, about 454,300 Chinese tourists including from Taiwan visited Sabah, the highest percentage among all foreign visitors.
“The enhancement of the relationship between China and Sabah-Labuan is achieved through active involvement and joint efforts of our friends from all walks of life in Sabah and Labuan."
According to Huang, around one-fifth of the world’s population celebrates the Spring Festival in various ways.
