On 10th December, Deputy Consul General Xiaodong Chen attended the Launch of Sovereign Hill's Chinese Protectorate Camp in the City of Ballarat. The Hon. Catherine King, Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Ms. Michaela Settle, Victorian Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development, Ms Juliana Addison, Parliament Member for Wendouree, Cr. Tracey Hargreaves, Mayor of Ballarat, Ms. Michelle Phillips, President of the Chinese Australian Cultural Society Ballarat and representatives of the Chinese Community attended the event.

Deputy Consul General Xiaodong Chen fully acknowledged the contributions by the local Chinese Community to the development of Ballarat and people-to-people exchanges between China and Australia in his speech and pointed out that the Chinese Protectorate Camp displays the life of the Chinese ancestors in Australia during the "Gold Rush " era, which greatly enhances the local people’s understanding of China. 10 years ago, President Xi Jinping paid a successful state visit to Australia. The two sides jointly promoted our bilateral relationship to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Recently, China’s visa waiver policy has been further expanded. It is our hope that more Australia friends could visit China and travel around to experience first-hand China’s high-quality development and high-level opening up.

The participants thanked the local Chinese community for their contributions to the development of Ballarat and said that the opening of the Chinese Protectorate Camp at the Sovereign Hill will promote the multicultural development of Victoria. We look forward more people to coming for a visit so as to have a better understanding of the “Gold Rush” history and deepen the cultural exchanges between Australia and China.