Vice President Xie Yuan met with Indiana Governor Mike Pence on May 12, 2015.

Vice President Xie expressed his warm welcome to Governor Pence who is visiting China for the first time at CPAFFC’s invitation. VP Xie made a brief introduction about CPAFFC’s history. He said, CPAFFC has long been committed to promoting and expanding China-US sub-national exchanges and cooperation. The China-US Governors Forum, annual programs of elected US state and city officials and sister-city programs have all played very positive roles in this cause. Indiana is Zhejiang’s sister state. It is our sincere hope that the two sides can enhance communication and exchanges and that the State of Indiana could provide easier access to attract more Chinese investment. He also recommended Indiana to explore business opportunities in central and west China while developing ties with coastal and east China.

Governor Pence said, Indiana attaches great importance to developing ties with China. Since establishing sister-state relations with Zhejiang in 1987, the two-way trade between China and Indiana has been on the rise. China is now Indiana’s fifth largest trading partner, with a trade volume of 1.5 billion US dollars last year. As a traditionally agricultural state, Indiana is keen on promoting cooperation with China in Agriculture, with its lieutenant governor leading an agricultural delegation to China in June. Apart from agriculture, Indiana hopes to expand further cooperation with China in the state’s other strong industries including manufacturing, logistics and distribution, life science, medical and animal science and higher education.