The Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, welcomed the Governor of Hunan Province, Mao Weiming, at the Government Palace in Dili on September 10th, 2023, to discuss the expansion of the cooperation previously established with this Chinese province in 2014 and 2017. 
The Governor of Hunan Province and the Government of Timor-Leste plan to intensify cooperation over the next five years to strengthen the national economy, especially in the agriculture, fishing, livestock, veterinary and horticulture sectors.
The Prime Minister recalled that his visits to Hunan in 2014 and 2017 had resulted in the previously established agreement with Manatuto in the area of agriculture and that this meeting was aimed at discussing the expansion of this programme. 
The previous day, the Minister of State Administration, Tomás do Rosário Cabral, the Governor of Hunan Province, Mao Weiming, and the Administrator of the Municipality of Manatuto, Bernardo Lopes, launched an agreement to continue the programme started in 2014, strengthening cooperation between Hunan and Manatuto in the areas of agriculture, horticulture, livestock, veterinary and fisheries.
The Vice Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs and Minister of Tourism and the Environment, Francisco Kalbuadi Lay, the Minister of State Administration, Tomás do Rosário Cabral, and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Marcos da Cruz, were also present at the meeting.