From April 10 to 13, DCM & Minister Xu Xueyuan of the Chinese Embassy visited North and South Carolina. During the visit, she met respectively with SC Governor Henry McMaster, NC Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, and economic officials of the two states. She attended a welcome dinner hosted by local communities of the two states, a welcome lunch organized by local business circles, and gave speeches separately. She also had a discussion with representatives of local Chinese communities and visited the enterprises in the two states such as Honeywell, Sun Fiber LLC, Keer America and Samson Marketing.

During the visit, Minister Xu briefed local communities on the current situation of the China-US relationship, and pointed out that the ship of China-US relations will fall behind if it is not moving forward. This year marks the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China. In this context, the China-US relationship must and can only go forward. Any stagnation, backsliding of the relationship, or any repeat of the Cold-War conflict and confrontation would bring unbearable costs for both countries and the whole world. China and the US have intertwined interests and close cooperation in economy, trade, education, science, technology, and culture. On major challenges concerning human survival and development, the world cannot do without China-US cooperation. No country in the world want to return to the state of “decoupling” between two blocs and systems in the Cold War. China and the US need to steer the ship of our relationship in the right direction, ensure it is fully empowered, and remember that as passengers on the same ship, we sink or swim together. In this way we can take our relations back to the right track as soon as possible.

   Xu also outlined the current state of Chinese economy. She emphasized that China owes its remarkable economic achievements to reform and opening-up. Going forward, China will open up at a higher level with lower tariffs, a shorter negative list, easier market access, more transparent market rules and a more attractive business environment. Xu stressed that the "decoupling" and "building walls" in economy and trade are not in the interests of any party. Trade issues have now been politicized and even weaponized. The trade war, industrial war and technological war have seriously poisoned the atmosphere of cooperation and eroded the interests of the industry and the people. It is hoped that there can be actions at the sub-national level of the US to explore business opportunities with Chinese provinces and cities for greater outcomes in practical cooperation. It is also hoped that people can tell more success stories of China-US cooperation to help remove political obstacles and create favorable conditions for our economic and trade relations.

Xu said, China’s practical cooperation with North and South Carolina in various fields has developed rapidly in recent years. The two sides have strong industrial complementarity and huge cooperation potential. Sub-national cooperation is the foundation and most dynamic part of the China-US relationship. China is willing to make good use of the platforms such as sister province/state relations with North and South Carolina to continuously strengthen exchanges and cooperation in trade, investment, education, culture, tourism and other fields, to the benefit of the people of both sides.

Local political leaders and representatives from various sectors in both states expressed appreciation for Minister Xu's visit at a difficult time for China-US relations, and believed that her visit helped deepen cooperation and friendship and brought warmth and hope to bilateral relations. They said that US-China relations are crucial to both countries and the world, and that the two countries should be friends and partners, not rivals. North and South Carolina attach great importance to relations with China, and look forward to the healthy and stable development of US-China relations and to greater friendship with the Chinese people. They would take more real actions to promote the exchanges and cooperation with China, and welcome more Chinese enterprises to invest there, so that both sides can benefit from such cooperation.