On July 8th, Vice President Xie Yuan met with the U.S. Silicon Valley mayors delegation headed by Brian Peck, Deputy Director of the International Affairs and Business Development of California.

Vice President Xie introduced that the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship  with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) is aimed at enhancing people-to-people friendship and promoting local-government exchanges between China and the rest of the world. The CPAFFC receives around 10 U.S. governors, lieutenant governors as well as dozens of mayors every year. It has facilitated the establishment of more than 240 pairs of sister provinces/states and sister cities between China and the U.S.. The mayor delegation comes at an important moment of China-U.S. relations. He hoped that the visit will  help create more cooperative opportunities and further strengthen the bilateral relationship. He also introduced “Photo Exhibition in Commemoration of China-U.S. Cooperation during the World War II”, an important project launched by the CPAFFC during the Sixth China-U.S. High Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange in Washington D.C. last month.

Brain Peck, head of the delegation, said that the state government of California and the CPAFFC have been on a sound track of cooperation and are now working together to co-host the third U.S.-China Governors’Forum. Governor Brown and President Li Xiaolin have long been good friends. The State of California has good cooperation foundation with Guangdong Province and other parts of China. He hoped that this visit will help connect more Californian cities with their Chinese counterparts and push forward more cooperation with the CPAFFC.