Victoria-Sichuan 10-Year Celebration

I am honoured and delighted to back in Chengdu.

On my previous visit – in 2024 – I discovered that Chengdu is known as the ‘city of abundance’.

It is an apt name. After all, this truly is a city and a province of great abundance.

Chengdu and Sichuan have an abundance of wonders – …

from the heavenly landscapes of Jiuzhaigou,

to sacred Mount Qingcheng,

to the ancient irrigation works of Dujiangyan.

Chengdu and Sichuan also possess an abundance of culture – …

as the birthplace of Sichuan cuisine

and of Taoism

and the home of the Giant Buddha of Leshan.

And, of course, Chengdu and Sichuan possess an abundance of opportunity – with a diverse and growing economy, and a deep commitment to research and innovation.

All of which is why Chengdu is one of China’s fastest-growing capital cities.

This is why Victoria is proud to be Sichuan’s sister-state.

I see symmetry – some might call it harmony – in the strengths of our two great provinces because Victoria, like Sichuan, is also a place of abundance.

Like Sichuan, we are blessed with a diverse economy and dynamic institutions that are deeply invested in research and innovation.

Like Dujiangyan, we are home to an ancient UNESCO World Heritage site – the Budj Bim aquaculture system built by the Gunditjmara people more than 6,000 years ago.

And, like Chengdu, a Victorian city, Bendigo, has been recognised as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy.

Bendigo is also the hometown of Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan.

And Bendigo has a rich history of Chinese migration.

In fact, during the Gold Rush in the 1850s, around 20 per cent of the population of Bendigo was Chinese.

Today, the city’s Golden Dragon Museum is home to one of the world’s oldest Processional dragons, which is more than 120 years old and over 30 metres long.

Sichuan and Victoria may be 8,700 kilometres apart, but our two provinces and our two peoples are connected by a symmetry of abundances and ambitions.

Both are striving to achieve a balance between prosperity and sustainability, nature and technology, heritage and innovation.

And both are driven by the ambitions and abilities of their people.

We have much in common, in other words.

Perhaps that is why the first decade of our state-to-state relationship has seen the forging of so many educational commercial, cultural, sporting partnerships.

Since establishing sister-state ties in 2016, there have been four visits to Sichuan by Premier Allan and her predecessor, Daniel Andrews.

Victoria has also hosted official delegations from Sichuan in 2025, 2024, 2023, 2018 and 2017.

And Victorian companies have lined up to attend forums like the West China Cross Border E-Commerce Expo. 

In addition, Victoria and Sichuan have come together to establish strong partnerships.

In community building,

Sichuan has very generously enabled students and teachers from the Victorian Young Leaders to China program to travel to Chengdu to enjoy cultural exchanges and learn Mandarin.

In business,

Victoria’s Chemist Warehouse established physical operations in Chengdu, while Sichuan’s QingciGames established a digital games studio in Melbourne; and

Last year Sichuan’s Sanxuan and Victoria’s Tender Plus reached an agreement to import Victorian beef for hot pot restaurants in China.

In culture, partnerships have been forged between:

• The State Library of Victoria and Sichuan Library,
• Phillip Island Nature Park and Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding,
• The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra, and
• Museums Victoria and Chengdu Museum.

In healthcare,

St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne and the Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital have committed to collaborate on clinical research and knowledge sharing; and

The University of Melbourne and Sichuan University are collaborating on a mental health research program at the West China Hospital.

And, in education,

Melbourne Polytechnic is offering training in partnership with the Sichuan Education International Exchange Centre and the Sichuan College of Architectural Technology;

La Trobe University has institutional partnerships with the Chengdu University of Science and Technology and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China; and

Holmesglen Institute has partnered with Chengdu Technician College to support classes in Information Communication Technology and English. 

This list of partnerships is far from exhaustive.

Our sister-state relationship has grown so fast there are almost too many milestones to number.

In truth, though, the first generation of our partnership is a foundation.

Looking towards the future, I am excited to see where future generations will take our sister-state relationship.

After all, this initiative has created opportunities for hundreds of everyday citizens from our two provinces to learn from each other.

For example, in 2024 a delegation of executive chefs from Chen Mapo restaurant flew to Victoria to participate in the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.

Make no mistake: Victoria takes food seriously …

.. and the master chefs of Chen Mapo made a significant impact across Victoria – influencing chefs and food-lovers alike.

Likewise, I know that – like Victoria – the people of Sichuan love their sport.

I know Victoria would welcome Sichuan sporting representatives to visit Melbourne for the SportNXT business conference in September as part of an inbound trade mission.

And I note that the former coach of Melbourne City, John Aloisi, was appointed coach of the Chengdu Rongcheng Pandas earlier this year.

Aloisi is one of the greats of Australian soccer – and a coach who knows how to win.

I have no doubt that, under Aloisi’s watch, the Pandas will play a very entertaining – very Melbourne-like – brand of football.

In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Sichuan Provincial People’s Government for extending the hand of friendship to Victoria in 2015 …

.. and for formalising our sister-state relationship in 2016.

Victoria greatly values the friendships we have made across Sichuan over the past decade – and look forward to making new friendships in the years to come.

That is why Lucy Du – the Deputy Commissioner of our Greater China trade team – is based here in Chengdu.

And that is why I am here on behalf of the people of Victoria.

Thank you.