In November 2014, during an official visit to Australia, Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Tasmania to meet the family of Jim Bacon, the state's former premier. Bacon had twice visited Fujian when Xi Jinping was the provincial governor, and the two men had struck up a close friendship. Sadly, Bacon passed away before Xi Jinping could pay him a return visit. Even so, the Chinese President was determined to keep his promise. As he told the Bacon family, "I've come here today to fulfil a commitment I made to him, an old friend."