Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Australian state of Tasmania on Tuesday to fulfill a promise he made to the late Tasmanian premier Jim Bacon, according to the Global Times.
Xi met with Bacon's family and told them about committing to visiting the state when the late Australian official visited Tasmania's Chinese sister state Fujian in 2001, when Xi was the governor of the province.
"Bacon invited me to visit Tasmania then and I agreed. I came here today to fulfill my commitment to him," he told Bacon's family.
Xi said that Bacon was an old friend of the Chinese people who contributed much to the relationship between China and Tasmania and Australia at large.
Honey Bacon, the late official's widow, told Xi that her husband had wonderful feelings about China and Fujian and had wanted to receive Xi in Tasmania.
Bacon, who is now a member of the Australia-China Friendship Association, thanked the president for taking the time to visit Tasmania, fulfilling his promise to the late official.
She said the Bacon family has maintained its friendshp with China, with her eldest son, Mark, intending to participate in the economic and trade cooperation with China in his capacity as a business consultant.
Xi also visited current Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman and Lieutenant Governor Alan Blow during his one-day visit to the state.
The two officials said that the Chinese president is an old friend of the Tasmanian people and his visit is one for the books.