Xi talks trade, forges ties as US trip ends in California
Source: Agencies |
February 18, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINESE Vice President Xi Jinping was wrapping up a pivotal four-day visit to the United States with a daylong series of events in Los Angeles with his American counterpart Joe Biden.
Much of the trade between China and the United States pours through the giant Port of Los Angeles, the busiest port in the US. Xi met with California Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday and toured a shipping terminal at the port.
Nearly 60 percent of the imports moving through the Port of Los Angeles come from China, including US$120 billion worth of TVs, sneakers and other goods last year. The US shipped US$13.5 billion in exports to China via the port.
Yesterday, Biden and Xi were to start with a China trade forum in Los Angeles, followed by a luncheon, a school visit to meet children learning Mandarin, then a governor's forum at Disney Hall.
In a carefully scripted event, Xi took a short walking tour through the China Shipping terminal with Brown and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The facility sprawls over nearly 40 hectares.
"We're not just growing our ports, but we're greening our ports," Villaraigosa told Xi.
"When I heard that this is an environmentally friendly green port, I felt that this was a major achievement," Xi later told a crowd in a brief statement. "This is a solid foundation for future US-China trade and economic cooperation."
As with his previous travels, Xi was focusing on forging relationships.
Xi spent the morning on Thursday in Iowa, where officials from the US and China signed a five-year deal to guide discussions on food security, food safety and sustainable agriculture.
China became the top market for US agricultural goods last year, purchasing US$20 billion worth, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
Much of Xi's visit, which began earlier this week in Washington, DC, has been focused on agriculture. The strategic cooperation agreement signed on Thursday outlines mutual goals and responsibilities of each nation.
"It charts the course and gives us a guiding document that we can reference and, over time, refine and improve," said Scott Sindelar, the agricultural minister counselor at the US Embassy in Beijing, who attended the Des Moines conference.
According to the USDA, the value of US farm exports to China supported over 160,000 American jobs last year.
US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said the two nations will have to work together to help feed the world.
"We have the responsibility and opportunity to work together to address the causes of global hunger that affect more than 925 million people," he said. "Current population trends mean that we must increase agricultural production by 70 percent in the year 2050 to feed nearly 9 billion people."
Much of the trade between China and the United States pours through the giant Port of Los Angeles, the busiest port in the US. Xi met with California Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday and toured a shipping terminal at the port.
Nearly 60 percent of the imports moving through the Port of Los Angeles come from China, including US$120 billion worth of TVs, sneakers and other goods last year. The US shipped US$13.5 billion in exports to China via the port.
Yesterday, Biden and Xi were to start with a China trade forum in Los Angeles, followed by a luncheon, a school visit to meet children learning Mandarin, then a governor's forum at Disney Hall.
In a carefully scripted event, Xi took a short walking tour through the China Shipping terminal with Brown and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The facility sprawls over nearly 40 hectares.
"We're not just growing our ports, but we're greening our ports," Villaraigosa told Xi.
"When I heard that this is an environmentally friendly green port, I felt that this was a major achievement," Xi later told a crowd in a brief statement. "This is a solid foundation for future US-China trade and economic cooperation."
As with his previous travels, Xi was focusing on forging relationships.
Xi spent the morning on Thursday in Iowa, where officials from the US and China signed a five-year deal to guide discussions on food security, food safety and sustainable agriculture.
China became the top market for US agricultural goods last year, purchasing US$20 billion worth, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
Much of Xi's visit, which began earlier this week in Washington, DC, has been focused on agriculture. The strategic cooperation agreement signed on Thursday outlines mutual goals and responsibilities of each nation.
"It charts the course and gives us a guiding document that we can reference and, over time, refine and improve," said Scott Sindelar, the agricultural minister counselor at the US Embassy in Beijing, who attended the Des Moines conference.
According to the USDA, the value of US farm exports to China supported over 160,000 American jobs last year.
US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said the two nations will have to work together to help feed the world.
"We have the responsibility and opportunity to work together to address the causes of global hunger that affect more than 925 million people," he said. "Current population trends mean that we must increase agricultural production by 70 percent in the year 2050 to feed nearly 9 billion people."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
