At the invitation of the Shaoguan Municipal Foreign Affairs Bureau, Consul General of Sri Lanka in Guangzhou Priyangika Dharmasena visited Shaoguan City in Guangdong Province, from 13-14 March 2019, to strengthen mutual cooperation between Sri Lanka and Shaoguan City. A few Consuls General from East Asia and South Asia associated with Buddhism had been invited to visit the city of Shaoguan.
Shaoguan City is a key industrial (steel and special steel) base in the Guangdong Province with outstanding resource sectors, strong processing industries and partial key light industries.
During the visit, the Consul General met with Mi Hing Jun, Secretary of the Municipal Committee of Communist Party and Vice Mayor of the city. In her discussions with them, the Consul General requested information on the economic and social areas of interest to Shaoguan, in order to determine whether such areas would be of interest to Sri Lanka, for further cooperation. While appreciating the queries made by the Consul General, Mr. Jun informed that he would revert on such details in the near future.
While in Shaoguan, Consul General Dharmasena visited the Nanhua temple, an ancient Buddhist monastery, one of the five great schools of Buddhism, Chan Buddhism, and met with the chief Abbot. He was pleased to inform that delegations from the temple had visited Sri Lanka last year.
The Consul General also visited the Caoxi Cultural Town, which is still partially constructed for locals and tourists alike to showcase the cultural heritage surrounding the Nanhua Temple and Shaoguan city.
