Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar shaking hands with Shenzhen deputy mayor Lu Ruifeng (right) after calling on the latter at Wuzhou Guest House in Shenzhen on Tuesday
He is expected to visit Shanghai and later Beijing to meet his counterpart Yang Jiechi and call on the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Syed Hamid was impressed by Shenzhen and how they could develop what was only known as a rural area into an impressive commercial city.
”They started as a rural area with a population of about 20,000. But now its has grown to a city of 12 million people, including a mobile population of four million.
”They tend to focus on industry and the type of industry they want to develop,” he said.
Syed Hamid added that Shenzhen was very focused and they targeted the World’s Top 500 companies.
On his ministry’s role in promoting IDR, he said Wisma Putra was one of the ministries which had the largest international networks and a wide coverage.
”Where we go we promote our country. Our role is more than political. It also involves trade and economics.
”The specialised ministries do the focused work, we help do the networking with other countries and international organisations,” he said.
Futian Free Trade Zone, established in 1991, is one of the three special economic areas that implement the policy of “full development” in the city of Shenzhen.
There are 15 Free Trade Zones in China with three of them in Shenzhen.