Chinese President Xi Jinping made an address in Seattle on Tuesday at the China-U.S. Governors' Forum.
The following is the translated version of the full text of his address:
Address by H.E. Xi Jinping
President of the People's Republic of China
At the China-U.S. Governors' Forum
Seattle, September 22, 2015
Governor Jerry Brown of California,
Governor Jay Inslee of Washington,
Governor Terry Branstad of Iowa,
Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan,
Governor Kate Brown of Oregon,
Leaders of provinces and states,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,
It gives me great pleasure to attend the third China-U.S. Governors' Forum. Let me first of all extend warm congratulations on the successful opening of the forum and express my deep appreciation to leaders of provinces and states for your hard work over the years to promote China-U.S. relations.
Just now, I listened attentively to your remarks. You all made very good points. Every time I interact with local leaders of China and the United States, I get much food for thought. During my visit to the United States in 2012, I attended a meeting between Chinese and American governors in Los Angeles. In 2013, I met with delegates of the second Chinese-U.S. Governors' Forum in Beijing. I still remember our conversations on sub-national cooperation. And your ideas on how to grow the relations between the two countries were still fresh in my memory.
Having worked for many years in local governments myself, I fully understand how challenging it is to be local leaders, as the job carries immense responsibilities. I am also deeply aware of the importance of sub-national cooperation to the growth of overall relations between countries. State-to-state relations ultimately rely on the support of the people and serve the people. Provinces and states are closest to the people. Without successful cooperation at the sub-national level, it would be very difficult to achieve practical results for cooperation at the national level. That is why I place great importance on China-U.S. sub-national cooperation.
Over the past 30 plus years, the growth of our relations has been achieved with support of local governments and their people. Going forward, it will continue to draw strength from and deliver benefits to them.
The new momentum of dynamic growth of sub-national exchanges and cooperation between our two countries has been truly encouraging. Thirty-one Chinese provinces/regions/cities have established 43 sister province/state relations and 200 sister-city relations with 50 American states. Over the past 10 years, 42 American states have achieved triple-digit increases in their export to China. According to statistics of the American side, Chinese investment to the U.S. over the past five years has expanded by over eight billion dollars on average every year and the pace is still getting faster. For the five American states represented here, China is among your top four export markets and a major source of international students. Among the six Chinese provinces and cities around the table, some have the U.S. as their largest trading partner, some have attracted tens of hundreds of American businesses, and some registered a 40 percent increase in their trade with the U.S. in one single year. Exchanges and cooperations as such have truly benefited people of the two countries.
China-U.S. relations have, on the whole, maintained steady growth, with deepening practical cooperation in all areas. During the visit, I hope to have in-depth exchanges with President Obama and people of all sectors of American society and draw a blueprint for the future development of our relations. As economic globalization continues to deepen, new breakthroughs in industrial upgrading are in the making, and factors of production are flowing at a faster pace across borders. These have provided broader space for sub-national exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.
First, the two sides need to tap into opportunities emanating from our huge economic aggregates. A big size means tremendous business opportunities. China and the U.S. are the world's two largest economies. This is in itself a treasure house for cooperation between our provinces and states. As the world's largest economy, the U.S. has a huge market and a strong capability to attract foreign products, investment and talents to its shores. In China, we have a population of over 1.3 billion. The provinces of Shandong and Sichuan each have a population of around 100 million. And the six Chinese provinces and cities represented here have a combined population roughly the same as that of the U.S.. We in China are pursuing a new type of industrialization, IT development, urbanization and agricultural modernization, and implementing a strategy of innovation-driven development. This process will generate enormous demands for products, technologies and services from abroad. In the next five years, China is expected to import 10 trillion U.S. dollars of products and invest over 500 billion dollars overseas; and outbound visits by the Chinese people will exceed 500 million. We welcome closer cooperation between American states and their counterparts in China.
Second, the two sides need to take advantage of favorable policies of reform and development introduced by the two countries. Reform is a prevailing trend in today's world. China will stay committed to reform and opening-up, and Chinese provinces and cities are doing their part in pursuing reform and opening-up in various aspects. The U.S. is restructuring its economy, re-industrializing and re-shoring its manufacturing sector. To ensure sustained economic recovery, it has made strategic plans to spur scientific and technological innovation and industrial upgrading. Some states have introduced measures to attract investment, which are even more favorable than what we implemented in the 1980s. These will create opportunities for cooperation. We encourage more Chinese provinces and cities to come to the U.S. for exchanges and cooperation at a higher level to develop themselves and deliver more benefits to the local communities.
