On Sept. 15, 2026, Consul & Head of Post Li Xiaoyan of the Chinese Consulate in Laoag, attended the opening ceremony of the Dezhou University–Ilocos Norte Online Training Program on Tropical Rice and Vegetable Cultivation Techniques. Batac City Mayor Markee R. Chua, Dezhou University's Secretary Wu Jun, Vice President Liu Yinfang, and Mariano Marcos State University Vice President Fides Bernardo A. Bitanga attended also.

In her speech, Consul Li stated that over the 24 years since Shandong and Ilocos Norte established a sister-province relationship, agriculture has always been a key area of cooperation between the two sides, and she expressed hope that this training would help Ilocos Norte improve its agricultural production capacity.

The training program was co-hosted by the Chinese Consulate in Laoag and Dezhou University in Shandong Province, and organized by the Institute for Rural Revitalization of Dezhou University. More than 300 participants attended, including agricultural officials from the Provincial Agriculture Office and 10 cities and municipalities, as well as faculty and students from the College of Agriculture, Food and Sustainable Development of Mariano Marcos State University.