His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam last evening granted an audience to Mr Jia Qinglin, the Chairman of the 11th National Committee for the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) of the People's Republic of China at the Istana Nurul Iman.

Also present were His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, HRH Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Masna, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Among those who accompanied Mr Jia were Mr Qian Yunlu, Vice-Chairman and Secretary General CPPCC National Committee; Mr Sun Gan, Standing Committee Member CPPCC National Committee and Vice-Chairman, Committee for Handling Proposals; Mr Liu Wei, Member, CPPCC National Committee and Chairman CPPCC Shandong Provincial Committee; Mr Zheng Xianglin, Ambassador of China to Brunei Darussalam; and Mr Xie Hengsheng, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China.

Also present at the ceremony were Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong, Minister of Education as Minister-in-Attendance; Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Ibrahim, Minister of Finance II at the Prime Minister's Office; and Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Dewa Dato Seri Setia Awg Lim Jock Seng, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade II.

The Chairman of the 11th National Committee for the CPPCC is here on an official three-day visit, which ends today.

After the audience ceremony, His Majesty consented to welcome the visit of Mr Jia with a banquet at the Privy Council Chamber, Istana Nurul Iman.

The banquet was also attended by HRH Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, HRH Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, HRH Princess Hjh Masna and other members of the royal family.

In conjunction with the visit of the Chairman of the 11th National Committee for the CPPCC, an MoU was signed yesterday.

Earlier, Mr Jia Qinglin was hosted to a luncheon reception by the Brunei-China Friendship Association (BCFA).

The association is hoping to propose to the Government of His Majesty to consider the possibility of developing a Brunei-China Industrial Park in Pulau Muara Besar and in Nanning, China, said by Dr Hj Kamaruddin, the President of BCFA.

Mr Jia Qinglin in his speech hailed the growing Brunei-China relations and hailed the leadership of His Majesty. "China cherishes its traditional friendship and cooperation with Brunei. We are ready to work with Brunei for even greater progress in our relations of good neighbourliness, friendship and cooperation.

"Thanks to the outstanding leadership of His Majesty the Sultan, Brunei has independently chosen its development path and achieved remarkable success in nation-building and economic development.

"We are convinced that under the wise leadership of His Majesty the Sultan, the industrious and talented people of Brunei will realise 'Wawasan 2035' and achieve even greater success in the development of their country," he added. - Borneo Bulletin (20 April 2012)