February 7th, 2016

(From China Report, Correspondent Li Chuanjun) On February 4, at the invitation of a number of agencies, Xiao wunan, executive vice chairman of the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF) and Anna Xiong, founder and Chairman of the Guangzhou Trade and Cultural Association in Los Angeles paid a visit to the United States at the beginning of the New Year. During this visit, they had discussed several issues on how to build up a new type of Sino-US relationship covering exchanges and cooperation in the economic, cultural and social field. A number of agreements had been achieved as a result.

The delegation visited Los Angeles first, where they had carried out in-depth discussions with Congresswoman Judy Chu, California State Treasurer John Chiang and State Sen. Zhou Benli on economic, cultural and educational cooperation between the state of California and China. The "Sino-US cultural industry fund" initiated by the APECF and other organizations had attracted great attention from the state government which wanted to vigorously push forward the fund’s development. The delegation had also reached consensus with the famous think tank Phelps & Philips LLP to jointly set up think tanks, which are conducive to the development of Sino-US relationship and could play a constructive role in addressing conflicts and disputes between both countries.

The focus on the visit is to strengthen educational cooperation. The APECF had established widely partnership with the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). During this visit to the University of California-Riverside, both sides have reached agreement of cooperation regarding the "China Forum" initiated by university. Mr. Xiao Wunan would be invited to deliver a keynote speech at the forum in April of this year. During the visit to California State University, university administration held a seminar with the delegation and both sides had reached consensus regarding on-the-job training especially the special training for architecture, tourism and agriculture professionals. They made a decision to launch a package plan in 2016.

During staying in New York, the delegation paid a visit to the National Committee on US-China Relations and met with the vice-president Ms.Jan Carol Berris. Both sides had agreed on ways to promote bilateral cultural and social cooperation to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the committee. They also agreed on enhancing bilateral coordination and collaboration. Executive Vice Chairman Xiao Wunan also had a talk with the two chairmen of the foundation Leon Charney and Jack Rosen. They had reached consensus on how to roll out the next phase of the foundation, the roles of United States and China in the Middle East peace process, especially how to carry on the event of "Promote world peace through dialogue among different civilizations" initiated by the APECF. Such an event will be held in Tel Aviv, Israel in May this year.

The event of "Dialogue among different civilizations" will be further promoted worldwide in 2016, with its focus on the Middle East and the Islamic extremism, we believed this could play an instrumental role in defusing current crisis in the global hot spots.

Sino-US relations have been the most important bilateral relations for both countries, which also exert decisive impact on the prosperity and stability in the Asia Pacific region and the world at large. The APECF has played a positive, active and unique role in Sino-US relationship for a long time and made great achievements in this regard. The visit will undoubtedly galvanize the development of new type of Sino-US relationship in terms of implementation of specific programs, sending a positive signal at the start of the new year.