On September 18, Shen Xiaoming, secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, met with Hipólito Mejía, former president of the Dominican Republic, and his entourage in Changsha. They came to Hunan to attend the 2026 Hunan International Friendship Cities Economic and Trade Exchange Event & Cooperation Dialogue.

Secretary Shen, on behalf of the provincial Party committee and the provincial government, welcomed the guests and briefed them on Hunan's profile. He said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Dominican Republic, Hunan has attached great importance to exchanges and cooperation with the country. The two sides have witnessed frequent high-level mutual visits, close industrial collaboration, and expanded friendship-city communication. Secretary Shen noted that Hunan will earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries, and deepen pragmatic partnership with the Dominican Republic in various fields, to make greater contributions to continuously elevating China-Dominican Republic relations to new levels.

Mejía thanked Hunan for its warm reception. He remarked that China's rapid development is admirable. Hunan has advanced agriculture, and its hybrid rice technology has helped the Dominican Republic greatly increase grain yield. The Dominican Republic is rich in resources and hopes to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Hunan in agriculture, economy and trade, culture and tourism, and other fields. Both sides could enhance mutual friendship to achieve win-win development.

Accompanying guests included María Ortiz, Dominican senator for Hermanas Mirabal Province; Lisette Nicasio, governor of Hermanas Mirabal Province; and, José Gómez, ambassador of the Dominican Republic to China. Also present were provincial leaders Wang Daoxi and Wang Junshou, and Lu Xiangdong, vice president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn