Honorable Mr Ouyang Weimin, Vice Governor of Guangdong Province,

Honorable Mr Xie Yuan,Vice President of Chinese People's Friendship Association with Foreign Countries ,

Honorable Ms Stephanie Chang, Representative, Michigan House of Representatives,

Honorable Mr Dave Beachnau, Senior Vice President of Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau,

Honorable Mr Brian Connors, Director of Michigan-China Innovation Center

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening.

I'm very glad to join you at the opening ceremony of Michigan China Week here in Detroit in early spring. First of all, on behalf of the Chinese Consulate General in Chicago, I'd like to extend my warmest congratulations to the opening of Michigan China Week and express my heartfelt thanks to Governor Snyder, Michigan State Government, Michigan-China Innovation Center and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries for your strong efforts in making this great event possible. I'd also like to say to delegations of CPAFFC and the six provinces in China: welcome to Michigan.

Michigan China Week is an important proposal made by Governor Snyder last year. Given the rapidly deepening cooperation between China and Michigan, Michigan China Week aims at further enrichment of this partnership by promoting pragmatic cooperation in such areas as advance manufacture, connected cars, food processing and Internet of Things, which is of great significance in exploring new areas, new models and new channels of cooperation between Chinese provinces and U.S. states. I believe that as a major event in the relations between China and the U.S. Midwest, Michigan China Week will surely bring our exchanges and cooperation in various fields to a new level and play an important role in maintaining a sound and stable development of China-U.S. relations in the new era.

The eight years since Governor Snyder's assumption of office have been the "shining eight years" of the rapid development of friendly relations between China and Michigan. This is eight years of sincere dialogue and communication. Governor Snyder visited China seven times and included several provinces and cities in each and every trip. He is no doubt the "top salesman" of Michigan. Later this year, Governor Snyder will visit China for the 8th time. I hereby wish the visit a great success. The recent years also witnessed visits to Michigan by then Politburo Member and CPC Secretary of Guangdong Province Mr. Hu Chunhua, then CPC Deputy Secretary of Guangdong Province Mr. Ma Xingrui, Vice Governor of Sichuan Mr. Wang Ning and leaders of other Chinese provinces and cities, which have provided high-level guidance for continuously expanding cooperation between the two sides.

This is eight years of progress in the province/state relations. With joint efforts of both sides, the relations between the provinces and cities in China and Michigan continue to deepen, and the framework of bilateral cooperation mechanisms has been increasingly perfected. In 2015, Ministry of Commerce of China, joined by four Chinese provinces, namely Zhejiang, Hubei, Guangdong, Sichuan, and the City of Chongqing, signed a MOU with Michigan for a joint working group on trade and investment, setting a new platform for economic and trade cooperation. In 2016, Guangdong and Michigan established sister province/state relations while Sichuan and Michigan agreed to further strengthen their sister province/state relations established over 30 years ago, which injected a strong impetus for sub-national cooperation between China and the U.S..

This is eight years of mutually-beneficial and win-win cooperation. China has become Michigan's third largest trade partner and export market, with annual trade volume surpassing US$13 billion. Michigan companies such as General Motors, Ford and Chrysler enjoy booming business in the Chinese market. General Motors' annual sale in China went beyond 4 million cars last year. Since 2010, Chinese companies have invested US$4 billion in Michigan, creating over 10,000 jobs. In the future, there will be more Chinese investment in Michigan, bringing more benefits to both Chinese and American people.

This is eight years of connection between people's hearts. Currently, over 11,000 Chinese students are studying in Michigan and an increasing number of American students are learning Chinese. They will build the bridge between younger generations of Chinese and Americans. Guangdong Friendship Working Group and Provincial Art Troupe have visited Detroit two years in a row and brought the best wishes of the people of Guangdong to the people of Michigan. Last year, Detroit Symphony Orchestra visited and performed in five Chinese cities and a grand celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Ping-Pong Diplomacy was held at University of Michigan, adding new chapters to the long-lasting friendship between our two peoples

The vigorous development of exchanges and cooperation between Chinese provinces and cities and Michigan is a vivid portrayal of the interdependence and common development of China and the U.S.. With the continuous development of economic globalization and the brewing of new breakthroughs in industrial upgrading, China and the U.S., as the world's biggest economies, have extensive common interests and shoulder joint responsibilities for maintaining world peace, stability, and prosperity. Faced with the complex and ever-changing international situations and a variety of challenges, unilateralism and protectionism are not the solution to the problem, cooperation is our only right choice. We sincerely hope that the U.S. and China could meet each other halfway by strengthening dialogues and consultations and properly managing differences to ensure stable and long-lasting China-U.S. relations.

The year 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up. Over the last 40 years, China has been committed to deepening reform and further opening up and achieved phenomenal social and economic growth. Last month, in his keynote speech at the Opening of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, President Xi Jinping emphasized that China's door of opening-up will not be closed and will only open even wider. Looking ahead, China will adopt a series of major measures to pursue further opening including significantly broadening market access, creating a more attractive investment environment, strengthening protection of intellectual property rights and taking the initiative to expand imports. These measures will not only deliver benefits to all enterprises and people in China but also bring development opportunities for the U.S. and other countries in the world. I hope that the delegations from China can make full use of the platform provided by Michigan China Week and build relationship, match-make business, exchange experience and share opportunities with Michigan partners to further expand exchanges and cooperation between China and Michigan and jointly add more highlights to China-U.S. sub-national cooperation.

In closing, I wish Michigan China Week a complete success.

Thank you.