Dear old friend Mrs. Lande,

Honorable Ambassador Quinn, Mr. Luca Berrone, Secretary of State Pete, Director Durham,

Honorable Ambassador Cui Tiankai, Vice President Xie Yuan, Mr. Bai Runzhang and Mr. Xia Wenyi,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Dear friends,

Good afternoon.

It is my great pleasure to come back to Des Moines at the most beautiful season of the year for the launch of Mrs. Lande’s memoir Old Friends: The Xi Jinping-Iowa Story. I would like to extend my warm regards and congratulation to Mrs. Lande.

Mrs. Lande’s book collects vivid pictures and memorable stories of the friendship between President Xi Jinping and the State of Iowa, and Mrs. Lande herself in particular, over the past three decades, demonstrating the strength of friendship and people-to-people exchanges between China and the U.S.. This book will connect people of our two countries even closer and help us better understand and appreciate each other.

A good relationship between countries counts on the friendship between their peoples. Friendly exchanges between China and the U.S. have gone through a long history and left us numerous stories. 33 years ago, President Xi Jinping visited the State of Iowa and added another glorious chapter to the long-lasting friendship between China and the U.S.

Each time I come to the State of Iowa, I can feel the deep friendship between this state and China. This kind of friendship is based on mutual respect, nourished by win-win cooperation, strengthened through mutual learning, enriched with amicable exchanges and jointly protected by us both. It has stood the test of time and grown into a stellar epitome of China-US relationship.

Friendship is a big thing. Recalling his deep friendship with the people of Iowa over the past three decades, President Xi Jinping said: “I have learned about the deep connection between Chinese and American people from my own experiences with my old friends in Iowa and many other American friends. This makes me even more confident in the future of our bilateral relations.”

Having gone through 39 years of thick and thin since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China-U.S. relationship has once again come to a very important point. Forging friendship in all aspects as a critical pillar of bilateral relations and solidifying such friendship holds the key to a even brighter future of China-U.S. relationship. Let us work as one to continuously deepen our friendship and make our contribution to a promising future.

Thank you.