Second China—U.S. Governors Forum Held

To implement the consensusreached by the State leaders， and advance exchanges and cooperation between local governments， the Second China-U.S. Governors Forum cosponsored by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the National Governors Association of the U.S. was held in Beijing and Tianjin April 15-16.

Huang Xingguo， Mayor of Tianjin， Zhang Qingwei， Governor of Hebei Province， Lu Hao， Acting Governor of Heilongjiang Province， Su Shulin， Governor of Fujian Province and Chen Wu， Acting Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， together with their American counterparts Iowa Governor Terry Branstad， Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell， were among 150 Chinese and US representatives. The forum was co-chaired by CPAFFC President Li Xiaolin and Governor Branstad.

The participants had in-depth discussions on economic and trade cooperation and environmental management experience-sharing between local governments.

On China-U.S. Local Government Economic and Trade Cooperation

Mayor Huang Xingguo said，“China and the U.S. are highly complementary economically and there are broad areas for bilateral cooperation. There are more than 3，300 projects funded by over 700 American busi- nesses in Tianjin now， with total investment of US$6.8 billion； 161 enterprises from Tianjin have invested in the U.S. It is very important for the two sides to create a good environment for mutual investment with joint efforts.”

Governor Su Shulin pointed out that the restriction of investment in some industries and the complicated examination and approval procedures of the U.S. had greatly hindered Chinese investment. He hoped that the US side would take steps to resolve these issues. In recent years， the investment environment of Fujian had improved， attracting US investment in 1，560 projects with a total volume of US$4.7 billion and a good momentum was being maintained.

Governor Zhang Qingwei said，“Economic and trade cooperation alone is not sustainable. It requires multi-level and multi-faceted collaboration for further development. The friendly con- tact between Hebei Province and Iowa State over the past three decades show government’s push， and the people-topeople and cultural exchanges， together play a leading role in economic and trade cooperation.”

Acting Governor Lu Hao said that Heilongjiang had only 933 US investment projects， lagging far behind other Chinese provinces， yet there was a huge potential for cooperation. The province hoped to strengthen cooperation especially in modern agriculture， forestry and energy with relevant US states.

Governor Branstad said agriculture was of great importance to the food security of both countries； Iowa had very good cooperation in this field with China and would continue to deepen exchange and cooperation in this and other areas.

Governor Walker noted that the U.S. and China enjoyed close subnational contact. China had become the largest export market of Wisconsin outside North America， while his state was opening its door to Chinese investors and would continue to create a better investment environment.

Governor McDonnell said， to have face-to-face exchanges with Chinese governors and business leaders was very positive and would help enhance mutual trust. China’s high economic growth in recent years and its goal to double its GDP by 2020， as stated in President Xi Jinping’s speech， were inspiring， as was its desire to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with the U.S. He welcomed Chinese companies to invest and set up businesses in Virginia.

On Sharing Environmental Management Experience

In his speech Governor Zhang Qingwei said， Hebei Province paid great attention to environmental management. It was not only out of its own needs to improve ecological environment， but because the province had undertaken to control air pollution in collaboration with the two mega cities Beijing and Tianjin.

To curb the total consumption of energy and upgrade the technology to make coal into clean fuel were key areas of the province’s environmental management. The improvement of water resources utilization must also rely on science and technology. He expected to work out a new mode of long-term cooperation in these areas with relevant US departments and enterprises.

Acting Chairman Chen Wu noted that although Guangxi was a region somewhat late in achieving development， it attached great importance to protecting the ecological environment during its development and enforced environmental protection measures in the process of its industrialization and urbanization. This had produced good results， but Guangxi still faced arduous tasks in the treatment of industrial waste water and house refuse. He hoped to learn about the experiences and technology advances from his US peers.

Governor Branstad said that it was imperative for the US and Chinese governors to discuss environmental management， as it was a common problem so that cooperation between the two countries would produce positive effects.

Governor McDonnell said Virginia had invested heavily to introduce high and new technology for water resources management and had some very good experience in reducing pollution from coal burning. He expressed the willingness to share the experience in environmental management and carry out technological cooperation with China.

Building a Platform of Exchange for Business Circles

The China-U.S. Sub-National Trade Cooperation Seminar was also held during the forum. Invited speakers were Ren Xuefeng， Vice Mayor of Tianjin， Liu Jiangang， Deputy Secretary General of the Tianjin Municipal Government and Director of the Tianjin Commission of Commerce， Martin Briley， President and CEO of Virginia Economic Development Partnership， Debi Durham， Director of Iowa Department of Economic Development， and Lora Klenke， Vice President of International Business Development at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation， who introduced the poli- cies for inviting businesses and capital of their respective administrative region and answered questions on investment environment， laws and regulations， etc.

About 90 Chinese and US business personages from agriculture， medicine， logistics， electronic science and technology， energy development， machine building and other areas attended the seminar and had business talks.

Expanding Cooperation to Benefit People

The Chinese and US governors held talks on a one-to-one basis to exchange opinions and discuss future cooperation fields and plans. Both sides agreed that Chinese and US localities shared same or similar opportunities and challenges in related areas and had enormous potential for cooperation. Both sides should grasp opportunities and facilitate cooperation， so as to further foster bilateral sub-national exchanges.

When the forum concluded， CPAFFC President Li Xiaolin， Mayor Huang Xingguo， Governor Zhang Qingwei， Governor Branstad， and Governor Walker attended a press conference， at which they briefed on the discussions and achievements of the forum and announced that the Third China-U.S. Governors Forum would be held in 2014 in the U.S.

They stressed that both sides would as always support dialogues between Chinese and US governors in the areas of economy， trade， investment， clean energy， environmental management， education， culture， agriculture， and etc.， expand cooperation and deepen friendship to benefit the Chinese and American people.