<Delegations from Henan Province, Gansu Province, and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region>
Secretary-General Lim Byung-jin held a joint meeting with five Chinese delegations from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Henan Province, Gansu Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, who participated in the 2026 NEAR Member Workshop held at the Gyeongju Hilton Hotel on Wednesday, 18 March.
Secretary-General Lim expressed deep gratitude to the delegations, including Zhou Jianhua (Second-level Inspector of the Foreign Affairs Office of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region); Guo Hua (Division Chief of the Foreign Affairs Office of Henan Province); Hu Jing (Second-level Investigator of the Gansu Provincial Department of Education); Yao Huiling (Fourth-level Investigator of the Foreign Affairs Office of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region); and Lyu Changlan (Deputy Division Chief of the Foreign Affairs Office of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), for attending the workshop despite their busy schedules.
He also noted that this workshop was the largest to date, with approximately 130 participants attending from 44 local governments in six countries and seven related organizations such as TCS and the Governors Association of Korea. He gave an overview of the status of NEAR activities of Chinese member governments and highlighted major NEAR events for this year.
<Zhou Jianhua, Second-Level Inspector of the Foreign Affairs Office of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region>
Regarding the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region delegation, he emphasized that the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is playing an important role in the field of NEAR energy cooperation and highly commended the 1st NEAR Energy Cooperation Sub-committee successfully held in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia in July 2024. He stated that the Foreign Affairs Office of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region will work closely with the NEAR Secretariat to hold even more successful Energy Cooperation Sub-committee meetings.
In response, Second-level Inspector Zhou Jianhua expressed gratitude for the support extended to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region by the Secretary-General and the NEAR Secretariat, and stated that he expects to further expand cooperation in various fields through the NEAR platform in the future.
Regarding the Henan Province delegation, he noted that Henan Province, as a founding member, has actively participated in NEAR events and has greatly contributed to the development of NEAR, especially by operating the Tourism Sub-committee and the International E-commerce Sub-committee.
Regarding the Gansu Province delegation, he stated that since Gansu Province joined as a regular member in 2023, it has been actively participating in various NEAR activities, and he understands that it is planning to establish a sub-committee in the field of vocational education, and expressed the expectation that cooperation among NEAR member governments will be further expanded through cooperation in that field.
Regarding the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region delegation, he noted that it has actively participated in various events since joining NEAR. He highlighted the Tourism Sub-committee meeting held in 2025, which has been regarded as the most successful sub-committee to date, with the attendance of many high-level officials and programs with tangible impact.
<Lyu Changlan, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region>
Secretary-General Lim expressed gratitude for the attendance of the delegation from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which attended as special guests. Although the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region may geographically focus on exchanges with Southeast Asia, he expressed the expectation that, should the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region join NEAR, it would greatly contribute to expanding cooperation networks between Northeast Asian and Southeast Asian local governments and to promoting practical cooperation across various fields, including through its role as a regional bridge. He requested that they actively review NEAR membership.
The representatives of the Chinese member governments congratulated the 30th anniversary of the founding of NEAR and highly valued the usefulness of the NEAR platform for exchange and cooperation among Northeast Asian regional governments. They also stated that they would strengthen close cooperation with the NEAR Secretariat, taking this workshop as an opportunity, while also further expanding exchange and cooperation with other member governments.
The delegations from Hunan Province, Heilongjiang Province, and Jilin Province, who could not attend the collective meeting due to scheduling issues, had separate exchanges with the Secretary-General during the meeting period