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Sponsored by Thornton Group and PKU Founder Group, organized by the State Legislative Leaders Foundation of the U.S. and General Office of the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress of P.R.C., and hosted by Peking University, the “First Sino-U.S. Provincial/State Legislative Leaders Forum” was held at the Great Hall of the People and on the campus of Peking University November 10th-12th, 2009.
Prior to the forum Mr. Stephen Lakis, President of State Legislative Leaders Foundation, laid out the following purpose of the forum: “The purpose of our visit is threefold: First, for most of our delegation this will be their first trip to China and as such, it will very much be a learning experience. Our goal is to provide the legislative leaders with an opportunity to see the country, first-hand, and to meet with key Chinese political and business leaders in settings that are conducive to the open exchange of information and ideas. Optimally we want to see our program inspire new relationships linking our countries together for trade, investment and cultural purposes. In this sense, our chief goal is to further strengthen ties between our peoples and our nations. Secondly, we have a substantive policy agenda. Discussions over the three days of meetings will center on the environment and global warming and what our countries need to do in partnership to preserve the environment and respond to global warming, trade and investment, with legislative leaders bringing ideas to the table for the Chinese to consider and the Chinese giving us some sense of their objectives; and finally, the worldwide banking crisis.”
The forum exceeded its purpose and its goals and set the groundwork for a long and mutually beneficial relationship between China and the U.S. Although the forum was just three days long its impact will be felt for years to come as the relationships that were founded blossom into active collaborative partnerships.
The forum covered discussions on addressing the financial crisis, environmental protection and Sino-U.S. cooperation in related areas. About 200 representatives from the legislative and business circles of the two countries attended the forum and exchanged views on those topics.
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| Michael Lin, Co-Founder and CEO of Thornton Group, addressing the Sino-US guests at the reception banquet |
The forum began on November 10th with a welcome reception at the Lakeview Hotel. During the reception Mr. Michael Lin, Co-founder & CEO of Thornton Group addressed the attendees. Mr. Michael Lin spoke of the significance of the forum and went on to say, “This is one of the largest State Legislative Leaders Forums in the history of SLLF. This is truly a great thing and I am honored that so many are in attendance….As the geopolitical landscape of the world changes and China emerges as a superpower, it is increasingly important the two nations develop a better understanding of each other. That is why it is of great value that so many people have sacrificed their time to travel so far to attend this gathering….The timing of this Forum is of great significance as this is the 30th anniversary of the normalization of relations between China and the United States and it is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.”
The opening ceremony took place on November 11th in the Great Hall of the People. In addressing the opening ceremony, His Honorable Xu Jialu, Vice-Chairman of the 10th Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), said the exchanges of the Chinese and U.S. legislatures have become increasingly important in the bilateral comprehensive cooperation. These exchanges are conducive to sharing legislative experience and promoting understanding between the Chinese and American people, Xu said, adding that the forum would push the legislative communication and cooperation of the two countries into a new phase. Zheng Zeguang, director-general of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs, Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that regional legislatures are playing an important role in the political area of both China and the United States. He hoped that Chinese and the U.S. legislatures could make more contribution to the development of Sino-U.S. relations.
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| Honorable Xu Jialu, Vice-Chairman of the 10th Standing Committee of NPC raised the curtain of the forum at the opening ceremony |
Steve Lakis, President of SLLF gave a speech at the opening ceremony |
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| Sino-US attendees gathered at the Standing Committee Hall of the Great Hall of the People and listened carefully to the speakers
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Honorable Xu, Jialu and William Bulger, Chairman Emeritus, SLLF Board of Directors and President of the Senate of Massachusetts
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On the morning of November 12th the business and legislative leaders were addressed by Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. Mr. Huntsman emphasized the importance of U.S./China relations and told the crowd that the future success of the world greatly rests upon the successful partnership and cooperation between China and the U.S. In the evening, the attendees were greeted by Mr. Sang Guowei, Vice Chairman, Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of P.R.C. at the Great Hall of the People. The Honorable Sang Guowei gave a warm and inspirational speech and concluded the first Sino-U.S. Provincial/State Legislative Leaders Forum.
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| Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., U.S. Ambassador to P.R.C., giving an important speech
on the development of Sino-US relationship
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| Sang Guowei, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee Of the NPC, addressed the Sino-US guests at the Taiwan Hall of the Great Hall of the People
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Sang Guowei (left 1) and Michael Lin, Co-Founder and CEO of Thornton (left 2)
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During the forum, the guests were given informative presentations by Chinese provincial/municipal people’s congress leaders and prominent scholars: Mr. Wang Yukun, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of Sichuan Provincial People’s Congress, Mr. Zhong Yangsheng, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress and Mr. Zhao Fengshan, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of Beijing People’s Congress. Mr. Cui Yuechen, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of Shandong Provincial People’s Congress, acknowledged the importance of this forum and emphasized the necessity of holding the forum regularly on an annual basis. Mr. Chen Shiyi, Dean, College of Engineering, Peking University, and Zhang Dongxiao, Vice Dean, College of Engineering, Peking University, covered significant topics such as environmental protection and Sino-U.S. cooperation and clean energy research at Peking University. Professor Sun Qixiang, Vice Dean, School of Economics, Peking University, gave a compelling and informative speech about the global financial crisis and Sino-U.S. cooperation.
The 31 US states represented by their House Speakers, Senate Presidents, Majority Leaders, Minority Leaders and Pro Tempores and the 11 Chinese provinces/municipalities represented by their Vice Chairmen/legislative leaders of the Standing Committee of Congress included: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming of the US, and Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Shandong, Henan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Liaoning, and Sichuan of P.R,C.
The companies represented by the senior management/board members included 60 US and Chinese organizations such as Bank of America, Boston Scientific, Coca-Cola, Comcast, Diageo, GTECH, Fulbright & Jaworski, Kodak, Kraft Foods, Sanofi-Aventis, Thornton Group, WE Energies, Ybrant Digital of the US, and Bank of Beijing, China City Construction Holding Group, China Railway Construction Group, Bohai Industrial Investment Fund Management Co., China Life Group, Minsheng Education Group, China Beijing Ton Ren Tong Group, and PKU Founder Group of China.
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| Sino-US legislative leaders listening to the speakers at the forum (1)
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Sino-US legislative leaders listening to the speakers at the forum (2)
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James Anderson (left 1), Senate Majority Leader of
Wyoming, Calvin Say (left 2), Speaker of the House of
Hawaii, Zhong Yangsheng (left 3), Vice Chairman
the Standing Provincial Committee of Guangdong
Provincial People’s Congress, Christopher Donovan
(left 4), Speaker of the House of Connecticut,
Wu Guohua (right 3), Vice Chairman of Standing
Committee of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Congress,
Colin Simpson (right 2), Speaker of the House of Wyoming,
Steve Lakis (right 1), President of SLLF |
Jeff Morris(left 1), House Speaker Pro Tempore
of Washington, Ren Haishen(left 2), Vice Chairman
of the Standing Committee of Anhui of People’s
Congress, William Murphy (left 3), Speaker of the
House of Rhode Island, Mike Chenault (left 5),
Speaker of the House of Alaska, Michael Schneider
(left 6), Senate President Pro Tempore of Nevada
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