Vice President Xie Yuan met with Brian Kenner, Deputy Mayor of Washington D.C., on October 19th in Beijing.

Vice President Xie expressed a warm welcome to Deputy Mayor Kenner, who is visiting China after his previous visit two years ago. He also praised the government of Washington D.C. for its continuous efforts to promote the development of sister-city relationship between DC and Beijing, as well as collaborative relations with other Chinese cities. Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the U.S. China will hold commemorative activities on that occasion. He hoped to take the anniversary as an opportunity to review the past achievements in China-U.S. sub-national exchanges and look forward to the next 40 years for future cooperation. The CPAFFC will continue to support DC’s exchanges and cooperation with Chinese localities.

Deputy Mayor Kenner said, in spite of the national trade issues, DC will continue to develop relations with not only Beijing, but also other Chinese cities. Next year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of sister-city relations between DC and Beijing. The DC government will commemorate the anniversary by creating Beijing Week, holding baseball and e-sports activities, art exhibitions and performances as well as lantern festivals, furthering its cooperation with China in the area of trade and investment, culture, education and sports.