Remarks by Minister Jing Quan at Kansas-Henan Direct Containerized Soybean Inaugural Shipment Celebration
2021/12/15 09:48

Honorable Vice Governor He Jinping,

Honorable Lieutenant Governor David Toland,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

I am very glad to attend Kansas-Henan direct containerized soybean inaugural shipment celebration. It is the first subnational event I attend since taking office as Minister of the Chinese Embassy in the United States. Over the past 40 years of Henan-Kansas sister relations, the two sides have been expanding exchanges and cooperation, which have produced fruitful results in the fields of economy, trade, and people-to-people exchanges, and delivered tangible benefits to the people of both sides. Today’s celebration is a useful try to tap the potential of our economic and trade cooperation. On behalf of Chinese Embassy in the United States, I would like to extend warm congratulations to you for this event.

As an impressive subnational economic and trade event, this celebration fully shows three basic features of China-US relations for the current stage:

First, the essence of China-US relationship is win-win. China and the United States have broad common interests and space for cooperation. Our cooperation far outweighs our differences. According to statistics, China-US two-way trade has increased more than 250 times over the past 40 years and more. Today, US exports to China support approximately 2.6 million American jobs. In the first 11 months of this year, China-US trade volume was $678.5 billion, an increase of 21.1% year-on-year. In the first half of this year, Henan’s total trade with the US reached $12.87 billion, up by more than 150% year-on-year. There is no doubt that China-US relations have brought huge and tangible benefits to the two peoples. The two sides should continue to follow the right direction, strengthen pragmatic cooperation, and inject more positive energy to the development of bilateral relations.

Second, China's opening-up and high-quality development will provide more and broader opportunities to the United States. The goal of China's development is to deliver a better life to the people. Now, China is fostering a new development paradigm with the domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other, and promoting high-quality development. In the first three quarters of this year, China's economy grew by 9.8% year-on-year. Going forward, it will continue to improve in quality and efficiency. The middle-income group will significantly expand, and people will have growing demand for quality goods and services. We will still comprehensively deepen reform and opening-up, further shorten the negative lists for foreign investment access, enable all-round opening of agriculture and manufacturing, expand the opening of telecommunications, medical care, and other service industries, implement a negative list for cross-border services trade across the country, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and build a market-oriented, law-based, and world-class business environment. These changes and developments will bring huge opportunities for our cooperation in agriculture, energy, manufacturing, financial services, and infrastructure construction. A best example is Henan’s recent agreement with Kansas companies to import 5,500 tons of Kansas soybeans. It is hoped that both sides will continue to make the “pie” of cooperation bigger.

Third, subnational cooperation and people-to-people exchanges provide inexhaustible impetus to the development of bilateral relations. Our subnational cooperation has kept pace with the development of the overall China-US relationship. Up to now, the number of sister province/state and sister cities of the two countries has reached 283 pairs. Not long ago, China and the United States commemorated the 50th anniversary of "Ping Pong Diplomacy" with the theme of "Celebrating the Past for a Better Future". There is a saying in China, "Amity between the people holds the key to sound state-to-state relations." I firmly believe that there is a solid foundation of people-to-people friendship and a huge space for cooperation between China and the United States. Although we have differences in political system, history, and stage of development, we can overcome differences, deepen understanding, and make our cooperation bear more fruit as long as we follow the spirit of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and mutual benefit.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Last month, President Xi Jinping had a virtual meeting with US President Joe Biden. The two sides had thorough and in-depth communication and exchanges on issues of strategic, overarching and fundamental importance shaping the development of China-US relations. Both Presidents underscored the importance of China-US relations. Both Presidents expressed their opposition to a “new Cold War” and believed that China and the United States should not have conflict or confrontation. This important meeting and the common understandings reached have pointed the direction for China-US relations and sent a positive signal to the world.

We always believe that a healthy and stable China-US relationship is in the common interests of the two peoples and the world. The future of our relations will be written by our people. Let us join hands and work together, under the guidance of the common understandings of the two Presidents, to promote exchanges and cooperation between China and the US at all levels and in various fields, and to play a positive role in the healthy, stable and sustained development of China-US relations.

Thank you!


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