U.S. New England Governor’s Conference

Madam Li Xiaolin, President of the Chinese People’s Association For Friendship With Foreign Countries (CPAFEC), and Mr. Liu Guozhong, Executive Vice Governor of Heilongjiang Province, attended the annual meeting of U.S. New England Governors’ Conference (NEGC) held in Burlington, Vermont on July 29-30, 2012. The two sides explored opportunities for cooperation on the areas of trade, investment, agriculture, animal husbandry, education and tourism between China and the U.S. New England states.

Madam Li Xiaolin expressed that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the Sino-U.S. local government cooperation and hopes to actively promote the pragmatic exchanges and cooperation between China and the U.S. New England states under the mechanism of China-U.S. Governors Forum. In the general session of NEGC’s annual meeting, Vice Governor Liu Guozhong gave an introduction of Heilongjiang Province’s economic and social development to all the delegates present and he expressed the willingness to further deepen the cooperation between Heilongjiang Province and the U.S. New England states.

Madam Li Xiaolin Present at Business Meeting

Mr. Peter Shumlin, Governor of Vermont, Mr. Dannel P. Malloy, Governor of Connecticut, Mr. Lincoln D. Chafee, Governor of Rhode Island, Mr. Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts and the representatives from the U.S. Embassy in China and the U.S. Department of State attended the meeting. They warmly welcomed the Chinese delegation and stated that China’s participation is beneficial to the enhancement of mutual understanding between the New England states and China, especially Heilongjiang Province, and thus beneficial to further promote the bilateral exchanges and cooperation at the local government level.

Madam Li Xiaolin Meeting with Peter Shumlin, Governor of Vermont

During the meeting, Madam Li Xiaolin and Vice Governor Liu Guozhong conducted one-on-one discussion with the four U.S. Governors mentioned above to explore the opportunities of future cooperation. The Chinese delegation also attended the High-Level Policy and Business Meeting together with Vermont state government officials of trade, agriculture, education and environmental protection to learn Vermont’s policy in the above areas and to identify opportunities of cooperation with China. Both sides agreed to strengthen exchanges and visits, and to expand the areas of cooperation in the future.