Irish leader calls for closer ties with China

President of Ireland Michael Higgins and his wife Sabina stand beside a statue of Dr Sun Yat-sen yesterday during a visit to a museum dedicated to the Chinese statesman. — Ti Gong

Fingding ways to feed the world was the main topic on Irish President Michael Higgins' mind yesterday as he tucked into a lunch with local businesspeople and officials at the Pudong Shangri-La hotel.

On his first state visit to the city, Higgins asked: "How can we meet our current resource needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs?"

The issue he said, encompasses "economy, ecology and ethnics."

Ireland exports 85 percent of its food production and China is its sixth-largest market. Irish trade with China expanded more than 40 percent last year.

Higgins said that in the future he hopes the two countries can build a closer partnership to promote modern agriculture and raise the social status of farmers.

After their talks on food and farming, Higgins and his wife Sabina visited the Sun Yat-sen Museum in Huangpu District.

The Irish president later met academics from the Irish Studies Network in China, a group that promotes Irish literature and culture to universities, as well as friendship and understanding between the two countries.

"I would like to salute all the academics and students in the Irish Studies Network who are here this afternoon," he said.

"(George Bernard) Shaw (who visited Dr Sun in Shanghai in 1933) recognized no boundaries in the commitment to international solidarity," he said.

"I believe your interest in our culture as well as the revived interest in your great civilization currently manifest in Ireland, offer a robust and fruitful base for the future of Irish and Chinese relations," the Irish president said.

Higgins will today visit Fudan University, which in cooperation with the Consulate General of Ireland holds an annual George Bernard Shaw Essay competition.

The consulate earlier this year launched an Irish Literature Translation Prize, which aims to raise the profile of Irish writers in China and make their work more accessible to local readers.