The foreign missions of Prince-Abbot of Sabourg Monsignor Giovanni Luca continue. From May 25 to June 1, 2025, the Archbishop of Sabourg visited Ningbo in China and the surrounding areas. The visit was planned by the Ministry of Economy headed by H.E. Stefano Soddu, who was also present and who has been maintaining economic relations between China and Sabourg for some time, assisted by the current Minister in charge of Asian cooperation, Renain Chen. Ningbo is the largest commercial port in the world, and the Prince of Sabourg was invited as a guest of honor representing Sabourg at China’s largest port event, the MPF 2025, Maritime Silk Road Port Cooperation Forum. Giuseppe Giacomini was present at the event for the Italian delegation as a reference person for European port legislation.
The forum was attended by the world’s leading port executives, representing both public institutions and private companies. The Prince-Abbot of Sabourg was joined by the president of the Lotus Suzhuang Huang Foundation. The mission of this organization, which operates between Los Angeles and Beijing, is linked to the development of new blockchain technologies. The meeting confirms the Chinese intention to cooperate with Sabourg, having signed a cooperation agreement in recent months in anticipation of the growth of the Sabourg Digital Foundation and the support promised to the African countries met in recent months.
On May 29, the Sabourg delegation’s visit moved to Yiwu, near Ningbo
where the Abbot of Sabourg was welcomed by Professor Xu Zhijian, former mayor of the city. The Prince awarded him a medal of merit for the creation of the largest B2B market in Asia, located in Yiwu.
The investiture ceremony was held in the Buddhist monastery of Shuang Lin, dating back to 520 AD, in the presence of the Abbot of Hui Ji Monastery, who conferred with the Archbishop of Sabourg.
The abbot of the Eastern monastery welcomed the appeal of the Sabourg religious leader regarding the urgent need to achieve unity between monotheistic religions and Eastern religions, in the ecumenical spirit announced by Pope Leo XIV and supported by the abbot of Sabourg. The abbot of Hui Ji accepted the proposal of the Abbot of Sabourg, and Hui Ji will soon visit Sabourg to agree on an interreligious project in cooperation with the Sabourg Ecumenical Institute. The trip ends in the technological town of Hangzhou for further meetings.
It will therefore be a journey marked by spirituality and technology: the spirituality rooted in the Priory of Seborga and the technology promoted by the Priory of San Michele in Ventimiglia. We will keep you informed of developments in these projects in China and others around the world with further press releases.
