Hainan Daily Press Group and Malaysia’s Kwong Wah Yit Poh have signed a strategic cooperation agreement and launched filming for a documentary exploring the shared food culture and historical ties between China’s Hainan province and Malaysia’s Penang.

The documentary will use food as a starting point to tell stories of migration, cultural integration and traditions passed down between Hainan and Penang, which share a sister province-state partnership.

Lee Hin Chan, general manager of Kwong Wah Yit Poh, said that a decade ago, the two media groups had collaborated by exchanging newspaper pages as part of a tourism and cultural promotion initiative.

“Ten years later, we are working together again through a co-production agreement, continuing and deepening the friendly cooperation between the two newspapers,” Li said.

Li said the launch of island-wide special customs operations within the Hainan Free Trade Port was bringing significant changes to the province and expressed hopes that the documentary would help strengthen exchanges and cooperation between Hainan and Penang.

He also added that he looked forward to expanding future cooperation with Hainan, particularly with the coastal city of Sanya.

Hainan Daily Press Group and Kwong Wah Yit Poh hold a meeting.

Shang Lin, publisher of the Hainan Daily Press Group, said that the latest project builds on an agreement signed with Kwong Wah Yit Poh in Kuala Lumpur in August 2025, when the ASEAN Liaison Center of the Hainan International Media Center (HIMC) was officially established.

At the time, the two sides agreed to develop mechanisms for content sharing and personnel exchanges, Shang said.

The latest documentary project represents a further expansion of that cooperation, he added.

Beyond media production, the two papers plan to jointly hold investment-promotion events for the Hainan Free Trade Port and cultural and tourism promotion activities, creating platforms for businesses from Hainan and Penang to explore practical cooperation.

They also plan to continue personnel exchange programmes, establish regular visits and joint training for editorial staff, and develop media professionals equipped to work in the evolving international communications landscape.