The government of Qingdao, Shandong province sent an economic and trade delegation to New South Wales, Australia, on Dec 4, for talks on establishing an economic partnership with the state's primary industries minister, Katrina Hodgkinson.

Zhang Jun, Qingdao's assistant secretary-general who was part of the delegation, first thanked the state government for a seminar that it held in Qingdao – the NSW-Qingdao Agri-Export Seminar -- that took place, on Nov, 2013, to give Qingdao a better understanding of New South Wales.

Zhang went on to say that he has hopes for the economic partnership with one of Australia's most developed states, and for cooperation between the two area's enterprises.

Hodgkinson replied that she'd been impressed by Qingdao's development during last year's visit and hopes to facilitate the partnership with Qingdao to increase cooperation in trade in beef, mutton, wool, nuts, and wine.