Secretary Antony J. Blinken And Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining Before Their Meeting – United States Department of State

Secretary Jining: (Through interpreter) Nice to meet you. First of all, on behalf of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, I would like to warmly welcome you and the delegation to Shanghai. Last night I watched the news, and I saw that you went to our Yu Garden to enjoy our local cuisine, and you also watched our basketball match. I hope that your visit to Shanghai can leave a deep impression on you, and I hope that you will have a greater understanding of Shanghai.

I know that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, the most important bilateral relationship in the world. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, relations have not always been smooth, there have always been ups and downs, but overall, it has moved forward with historical development. The constructive dialogue and stable relations between China and the United States have not only advanced our cooperation and exchanges in all various aspects, but also helped address global challenges and promote world peace and development. Is. So whether China and the US choose cooperation or confrontation, it also affects the well-being of the people of both countries and the future of humanity – this is a major influence on the choice.

In November last year, President Xi Jinping, at the invitation of President Biden, held a summit in San Francisco with President Biden, outlining the San Francisco Vision for the future, including a stable, healthy China-U.S. And the direction of sustainable development was decided. relations. In April this year, President Xi Jinping recently had a phone conversation with President Biden, where the two leaders exchanged in-depth views on China-US relations and issues of common concern. This continued stability in relations between our two countries. This forms a very important basis for us to strengthen bilateral relations. President Xi emphasized that, for bilateral relations, in fact, the future, the hope of bilateral relations depends on the people of sub-national relations.

Shanghai has a local government. We are a country – we are a city with many American companies. And we are home to more than 8,000 American companies, and we have really promoted bilateral relations between the two sides on every aspect. So Tony, it was a great pleasure to exchange views with you on how local government can contribute more to promoting bilateral relations.

Secretary Blinken: Well, Party Secretary, thank you very much. Thank you for welcoming us today to this wonderful place in this wonderful city. I was remembering I think the first time I was here with President Clinton in 1998, then about seven or eight years later with Vice President Biden, and now here again today. And I’ve seen through these visits – I think my last visit was in 2015 as Deputy Secretary of State – the extraordinary development of Shanghai, a fantastic city, a center for business, for commerce, for business. . And I think this reflects one of the tremendous areas of existing but potential engagement between our countries, and that is the economic relationship.

I look forward to talking to you about that, as well as, as you said, the many other connections that bring us together. I will meet members of our own business community who are here in Shanghai. I will see students who are engaged in exchange programs, Americans and Chinese, working together in NYU’s Shanghai program. And in each of these areas, I think it’s important to underline the value — in fact, the necessity — of direct engagement, ongoing engagement, talking to each other, highlighting our differences that are real, working through them. We are also looking for ways to create collaborations where possible.

We have an obligation to our people and, indeed, an obligation to the world to responsibly manage relations between our two countries. This is our responsibility and we take it very seriously. And I think the direction of President Biden and President Xi was to continue to build, maintain those lines of communication and, again, deal directly with our differences as we also want to build cooperation. So thank you for having us here today. I am looking forward to a good conversation.