'Haryana-China can cooperate in agri, industry'

Changzhou (China), Nov 29: Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said his state and China could cooperate in areas like education, industry and agriculture.

Mr Hooda, who is leading a high level official delegation here on the invitation of International Department of the Communist Party of China, was speaking at a banquet hosted in his honour by Mr Fan Yangqing, secretary Changzhou Municipal Party, Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Mr Yangqing briefed the delegation on the Principality of Changzhou, which is part of the Jiangsu Province. He said the Principality was one of the most developed ones.

The Chief Minister appreciated the progress made by the Principality and agreed that the two sides could cooperate in a number of areas so as to accelerate the pace of development and improve the quality of life of the people.

Earlier, the delegation went to Nanjing from Shanghai. On the way they visited Wuyi model village where they were impressed to see village enterprises.

Mr Hooda and members of the delegation also interacted with local leadership. Representative of the local administration said that the village has been transformed from an agriculture-based to industrial-based economy. The entire village has been reconstructed after demolishing the existing structures which included a community center for the old, Industrial zone and education centers.

The Chief Minister was impressed with the kind of infrastructure created in the village and said that it could be a good model for rural development in Haryana.

Mr Hooda was also welcomed by Mr Shen Hongguang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee in Shanghai, who apprised the delegation about the growth of Shanghai, which has over the years emerged as a modern metropolis.

Mr Shen observed that the visit by the Haryana Chief Minister would further consolidate the results of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to India recently.

The Chief Minister was all praise for the remarkable progress made by Shanghai during a short period of 15 years.

He said Haryana was now focusing on up-gradation of the infrastructure in the state in a big way and hoped to create another Shanghai in Haryana.

He explained that a number of infrastructure projects, including the Special Economic Zones, highways, technology parks and education city were being set up in Haryana under public-private partnership.

Mr Hooda said the purpose of his visit to China was to study the Chinese model and to replicate its best practices in Haryana.

He also invited Mr Shen to visit Haryana.

UNI