On the afternoon of 15 May 2023, the President Lv Bin, together with the Vice President and Secretary-General Pan Xinchun of China Oceanic Development Foundation (CODF) met with Her Royal Highness of Tonga, Permanent Patron and Board Chairperson Pilolaiu Tuita of Pacific China Friendship Association (PCFA) at Pan Pacific Beijing, and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CODF and the PCFA on blue economy development and cooperation in the South Pacific region.

CODF and PCFA have a meeting.

On behalf of CODF, President Lv Bin first extended a warm welcome to Her Royal Highness of Tonga Pilolevu Tuita and her delegation and introduced the background and development of CODF. He pointed out that CODF has carried out a variety of activities focusing on the Belt and Road Initiative, participation in global ocean governance, marine ecological and environmental protection, blue economy development, marine culture construction, marine talents training and research on major marine issues, and achieved positive results. CODF pays great attention to such major issues as sea level rise and global warming, and is ready to carry out in-depth cooperation with Tonga and PCFA in such areas as tackling climate change together, people-to-people exchanges, and marine spatial planning preparation.

Her Royal Highness of Tonga Pilolevu Tuita expressed her gratitude to President Lv Bin and CODF for the meeting. She said she was representing not only the Kingdom of Tonga, but also the 21 member States of PCFA. PCFA is not only committed to promoting the rapid development of its 21 member states in the economic, social, ecological and cultural fields, but also actively promotes the deep integration among member states. The 21 member states of PCFA share a vast marine area and face similar problems and challenges, but they are different in their own way. She highly agrees with and supports the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, hopes to expand this Initiative into "Maritime Pearl Road" in the South Pacific. She hopes to further cooperate with CODF to co-build the "Maritime Pearl Road" in the South Pacific.

Vice President and Secretary-General Pan Xinchun briefly introduced on the contents of the "Ten Ocean Actions" carried out by CODF, the achievements of its cooperation with Fiji, and the talent training on marine spatial planning and blue economy development to be held in three Pacific island countries this year. He said that CODF is a public welfare organization featured with openness and internationalism. Its "Ten Ocean Actions" have received great support and warm welcome with more than one million people from over 1,000 organizations in more than 80 countries involved. Its content is still being enriched, and the region is still expanding, becoming a big platform for bringing together different civilizations and closer international maritime cooperation. It has become a huge force driving the the Belt and Road Construction, global ocean governance, marine ecological protection, blue economy development, marine science and technology popularization, marine culture construction, international maritime exchanges, and blue partnership building. He said that after the signing of the MoU, the two sides would work together to elaborate the cooperation content and implementation plan, set up a working team, carry out marine spatial planning, marine talents training and introduce Chinese enterprises to invest in the South Pacific, so as to promote marine environmental protection and blue economy development in the Pacific region and local small island countries and improve the well-being of local people.

Later, in the presence of Her Royal Highness Pilolevu Tuita and President Lv Bin, Mr. Pan Xinchun and President of PCFA Hiria Ottino signed a MoU on Blue Economy development and cooperation on behalf of CODF and PCFA respectively.

Mr. Pan Xinchun and Mr. Hiria Ottino are signing the MoU. 

They are Mr. Lv Bin, Mr. Pan Xinchun, Mr. Hiria Ottino and Her Royal Highness Pilolevu Tuita from left to right.

Group photo of participants from both sides

Honorable Fredrika Tuita, daughter of Her Royal Highness and Principal Tourism Officer, Ministry of Tourism, Government of Tonga; Hiria Ottino, President of PCFA; Mishka Tuifua, Personal Assistant to Her Royal Highness and PCFA Board Secretary; His Excellency Tau'aika 'Uta'atu, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Tonga to China; Siosaia Moehau, Vice President of Tonga China Friendship Association; Poasi Tei, CEO of Lulutai Airlines and former Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga; Liu Yi from the Department of American and Oceanian Affairs of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries; Wang Min, Vice Secretary-General and Director of the Office (Finance Office) of CODF; Li Yan, Deputy Director of the Maritime Silk Road Department of CODF; and Li Xuefeng, Program Manager of the Maritime Silk Road Department of CODF attended the meeting.