Ｇｏｖｅｒｎｏｒ ｏｆ Ｖｉｒｇｉｎｉａ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， Virginia Governor Mark Warner led a 12-member state government delegation to visit Beijing and Shanghai from June 5th to 12th. Mr. Jia Qinglin， chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)， met with the delegation. CPAFFC Vice President Li Xiaolin gave a banquet in its honour. Fujian Vice Governor Wang Meixiang and Governor Warner signed in Beijing an agreement on the establishment of friendship province/state relations. Governor Warner also called on the Ministry of Agriculture， the Civil Aviation Administration of China， Air China and other departments. Han Zheng， mayor of Shanghai， also met with the delegation.

On the afternoon of June 7th， Chairman Jia Qinglin met with the Virginia governor and his entourage at the Great Hall of the People. He congratulated the establishment of friendship relations between Fujian Province and the State of Virginia， and hoped that both sides would take this opportunity to promote the development of China-US relations and that of their province and state.

Jia Qinglin said， both China and the US are great nations and we share a broad range of interests and basis of cooperation in various fields such as the safeguarding of world peace， anti-terrorism， non-proliferation of nuclear weapons， and suppression of cross-boarder crimes. China attaches great importance to China-US relations and is willing to establish constructive and cooperative relations with the US. The Taiwan issue is the most sensitive core issue in China-US relations. Taiwan’s refusal to accept the one China policy means adhering to the Taiwan independence stand. The splittist activities by Taiwan independence forces remain the biggest threat to the peace and stability of the Taiwan Straits. President Bush has repeatedly reiterated that the U.S. adheres to the one China policy， abides by the three China-US joint communiqués， opposes Taiwan independence and opposes any remarks or behaviors of the Taiwan authorities that are intended to change the status quo of Taiwan or go towards Taiwan independence. The Chinese government takes the commitment by the US seriously， and hopes that the US side will honour its commitment， treat the Taiwan issue cautiously and properly， maintain China-US relations and safeguard world peace.

On China-US trade and economic relations， Jia Qinglin said， they have kept a good momentum of growth and developed at striking speed. Last year the bilateral total trade volume reached $126 billion dollars， an increase of 50 times over that of the 1979. In the first 4 months of this year， bilateral trade volume increased by 36.4% over the same period last year. But along with the development of China’s economy and trade， there arise trade frictions between China and the U.S. However， this is pretty normal， and the two countries should properly handle the problem. Last year， China dispatched many procurement delegations to the US and will continue to do so. In the next 3 years， China will import 1 trillion dollars worth of American goods. Since Virginia has many high-tech companies， we believe it can gain greater trade share through competition.

On the exchanges between Fujian Province and Virginia， Jia Qinglin said， Virginia is a leading state in the US in terms of IT industry. Fujian falls behind Virginia both in technology and talents. Fujian can take this signing of friendship ties as an opportunity to cooperate with Virginia， become more active in opening up to the outside world and provide broad market to Virginia. There is vast potential in exchanges and cooperation between Fujian and Virginia in the fields of science and technology， economy， trade， culture and so on. We hope this visit will strengthen cooperation and provide opportunities for development for both sides.

Governor Warner thanked Chairman Jia Qinglin for meeting with the delegation. On the signing of friendship ties with Fujian， he says， Virginia has established only a few friendship ties with its counterparts in other countries and Fujian is the 3rd. Virginia is especially cautious in choosing its partners， so he is delighted to have established friendship ties with Fujian and he has high expectations on the future of this relationship. On the trade relations between Virginia and China， Warner said， China is Virginia’s 5th largest trading partner. Last year， the two-way trade volume increased by 40%， and ranked first among all the states in the US. Coming together with me on this visit is a business and trade delegation which is the biggest one that the governor of Virginia has ever led in his visits overseas. We expect to have exchanges and cooperation with China in IT industry. Virginia is the second fastest developing state in the U.S. and wishes to bring positive effect to Fujian Province. Leading the world in IT and telecommunication industries， Virgina is willing to expand its export of telecommunication products， as well as the exports of agricultural and forestry products to China.

On June 8， the ceremony for signing the friendship relationship between Fujian and Virginia was held in Beijing. Ms. Wang Meixiang， vice-governor of Fujian， on behalf of the governor， and the governor of Virginia signed on the agreement and made remarks. Both of them expressed hopes to take this opportunity to enhance exchanges and cooperation and promote common development. At the ceremony， Chen Haosu， president of CPAFFC， said that twinning of friendship ties will further advance the friendly exchanges between Chinese and American peoples and make more contributions to world peace and prosperity.