Address at the China-U.S. Governors’ Forum.doc

Address at the China-U.S. Governors’ Forum H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China Seattle, 22 September 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