The Third China-US Governors Forum Held in the US

“Relatives and friends become closer with increasing visits to each other. Over the past 30 years， the de-velopment of China-US relations has won support oflocal authorities and the people in both countries. It will con-tinue to draw strength from and deliver benefits to them.”一- From the speech delivered by President Xi Jinping at the Third Forum of China-US Governors(Sep. 22， 2015， Seattle)

The third China-US Governors Forum， with the theme of“Clean En-ergy and Economic Development”，was held in Seattle on September 22 by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries(CPAFFC) and the state govermnents of California and Washington.

President Xi Jinping， then on a state visit to the US， delivered an ad-dress. Wang Dongming， secretary ofthe CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee，Wang Anshun， secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee， Huang Qifan， mayor of Chongqing Munici-pality， Li Qiang， governor of Zhejiang Province， Guo Shuqing， governor of Shandong Province， Lou Qinjian， gov-emor of Shaanxi Province， Li Xiaolin，president of the CPAFFC， and Luo Linquan， China’s consul-general in San Francisco， were among those present.

American attendees included Jerry Brown， governor of Califomia， Jay In-slee， govemor of Washington， Rick Sny- der， governor of Michigan， Terry Brans-tad， governor of Iowa， Kate Brown， overnor of Oregon， and Max Baucus，American ambassador to China.

During the forum， the two sides signed The US-China Governors’Ac-cord on Clean Energy and Economic Development and held six one-to-one meetings.

President Xi Jinping addresses the Forum

In his speech，President Xi offered congratulations on the successful holding of the third China-US Governors Forum and highlighted the im-portant role played by local-level cooperation in developing China-US relations. China and the US had bright pros-pects for sub-national communication and collaboration， and the two countries should strengthen their ties invarious fields by tap-ping the potential of their respective lo-cal advantages.

In fact， this was not the first time for President Xi to attend an activity of China-US local-level cooperation. Back in 2012， as China’s vice president， he attended a meeting between Chinese and American govemors in Los Ange-les. In 2013， he also met in Beijing rep-resentatives attending the 2iid China-US Governors Forum.

In his speech， he talked about his unforgettable experiences in the ex-changes with the US when he served as a local official in his earlier years.His vision and lively delivery struck a chord with all listeners. At the end of the Forum， the American govemors felt reluctant to leave as they all wanted to shake hands with President Xi. After-wards， Governor Inslee observed that President Xi’s repeated emphasis on sub-national cooperation showed the great significance his administration at-tached to province/state -level and city-level cooperation.

Chinese and US governors Iaud local-level cooperation and reach a consensus on addressing climate change and strengthening cooperation in energy and environmental protection

With the theme of“Clean En-ergy and Economic Development”， the third Forum aimed to put into practice the US-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change issued in Novem- ber 2014. Participants agreed it was a shared responsibility of central and local governments across the world to address climate change and promotea low-carbon economy. They also re-viewed their progress and exchanged experiences in the field.

Both sides showed full awareness of the huge potential for cooperation in the green economy marked by clean energy and environmental protection.The two countries should enhance their collaboration in key fields by increas-ing teclmology and capital inputs， so that both peoples can benef’it from a cleaner environment.

The Forum led to the signing of the US-China Governors’Accord on Clean Energy and Economic Develop-ment， providing for close cooperation at a local level to enhance the balance between economic growth and the development of renewable energy re-sources and clean technology.

In addition， the attending gover-nors agreed that local-level coopera-tion was the cornerstone for bilateral relations， and that President Xi’s atten-dance had great implications for closer China-US sub-national collaboration.On the basis of the current achieve-ment， Chinese provinces and American states are willing to further their prag-matic cooperation to reap greater ben-efits.

Features and functions of the China-US Governors Forum

The two nations' presidents an-nounced the establishment of the China-US Governors Forum in 2011. Within the framework， five forums or dialogues have been held in China or US

The Forum has the followingthree features:

Wide coverage. The five forums or dialogues have involved 26 senior officials of Chinese provinces (munici-palities and autonomous regions) and 33 governors of American states. All but four of China's 34 provinces (mu-nicipalities and autonomous regions have sent delegates to the Forum， and 43 0fthe 50 American states have done so， covering about 86% of the admin-istrative units of each nation. Of all the Chinese governors participating in the forums or dialogues， those from west-ern regions account for nearly a third.

Fruitful results. At the first Fo-rum alone， 28 cooperation agreements，letters of intent， and memorandums，with a total value of $3.2 billion， were concluded between the countries’local authorities as well as businesses. At the third Forum， The US-China Govemors’Accord on Clean Energy and Economic Development was signed.

Pragmatism and win-win coop-eration. Exchanges at the local level are more feasible， flexible and autono-mous than at the central/federal level.Chinese and American governors have similar motivation for exchanges to promote local economic growth and people’s livelihood. This shared goal will naturally lead to mutually ben-eficial cooperation in trade and other fields.

As Wang Dongming observed:China-US sub-national exchanges have“numerous highlights， huge potential，and a bright future”. Local-level coop-eration will not only bring the two na-tions closer， but also lay a solid founda-tion for the mutual trust and friendship of the two peoples of future genera-tions. All the governors should study the message conveyed in President Xi’s speech to deepen and strengthen the sub-national collaboration and play a greater role in promoting new relations between China and the US as two ma-jor powers in the world.