# Guangdong and Papua New Guinea: Taking roots across the Pacific

- Link: https://www.thailand-business-news.com/pr-news/guangdong-and-papua-new-guinea-taking-roots-across-the-pacific
- Published: 2026-11-13T15:31:00+07:00
- Author: PR Newswire

GUANGZHOU, China, Nov. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from South:

Few places on Earth feel as wild as Papua New Guinea. Spread across more than 600
islands, the Pacific nation is home to extraordinary cultural and biological diversity.
But some of what comes from its waters is now travelling much further—all the way
to dinner tables in China.

For local seafood exporter Tony Lan, China has transformed the scale of his business.
His company buys wild-caught mud crabs from local fishermen before flying them to
Chinese cities including Guangzhou.

"We used to sell a few hundred kilos a week to the local market," Lan said. "But
once we started exporting crabs to China, business just exploded. Now we’re moving
20 to 30 tons a week."

The impact has spread beyond the company itself. Lan said families involved in the
crab trade have been able to build better homes and buy televisions and generators.

But the connections between Papua New Guinea and Guangdong go far beyond seafood.

In Port Moresby, 21-year-old Maureen works as a receptionist for a Chinese company.
Finding work is far from guaranteed. "A lot of degree holders, they don’t have jobs,"
she said. "But you see me, I don’t have a degree, but I have a job."

Her story leads back to Butuka Academy, the school she graduated from. Built with
support from Shenzhen under its sister-city relationship with Port Moresby, the 
academy now accommodates around 3,000 students. Maureen says the computer skills
she learned there—including Microsoft applications, web skills and Excel—are the
same ones she now uses at work.

Another connection has taken root in soil.

Juncao, a grass-based agricultural technology developed in China, was introduced
to Papua New Guinea in the 1990s. Initially used for mushroom cultivation, it has
since found applications ranging from livestock feed to fibers and bioenergy. Over
three decades, the technology has spread to more than 9,000 farming households, 
benefiting around 30,000 people.

For Georgina, whose family was among the early adopters, Juncao has shaped both 
family life and career. After struggling to find a job for two years, she returned
to mushroom farming and helped local farmers find markets. That experience eventually
led to her current work with a Shenzhen company exploring new uses for the grass.

"I want everyone to know about Juncao, the benefits of it," she said. "It’s part
of me."

For National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop, such exchanges are part of 
Papua New Guinea’s wider development journey.

"Being a rural-based, traditional economy, now trying to become a modern economy,
we can only learn from China," Parkop said. He also stressed the importance of APEC
for smaller economies, saying PNG does not always have the means to engage with 
economies across the Pacific individually, "and we have the opportunity at APEC."

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  |  This article was produced by Cision PR Newswire, our trusted news partner. The views expressed and the content presented here are solely those of the author and may not fully reflect the opinions of Thailand Business News. |

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**Read the original article :** [Guangdong and Papua New Guinea: Taking roots across the Pacific ](https://en.prnasia.com/story/archive/5097124_AE97124_0?rand=184833)