The central Chinese city of Wuhan, in Hubei province, has sent six officials to Timor Leste for a week to help the authorities in Díli with their urban planning, the Changjiang Daily reports.

The Chinese newspaper says the UN Human Settlement Programme invited the officials to Dili to do research with a view to applying the experience of Wuhan in planning its waterfront to the drafting of a land use plan for Díli for the next 30 years.

The report says the officials inspected residential areas, universities, schools, markets, factories, the port, rivers and farms in Díli and the surrounding countryside.

The officials will have another 18 months to complete their contribution to the drafting of the land use plan, the Changjiang Daily says.