Envoy: confident about the future of China-US relations

After making a trip to Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota from April 19 to 25, the Chinese ambassador to the US Qin Gang said he felt confident about the future of China-US relations.

"I leave the Heartland with my heart filled with friendship and cooperation and, more importantly, filled with confidence in the future of China-US relations," Qin Gang wrote in an article published by The Des Moines Register, the most influential newspaper in the state of Iowa of the United States. 

The stories of win-win cooperation, the stories of friendship passed through generations, the common qualities of Chinese and Americans, and young people's respect and appreciation for the others country and its culture had touched him, Qin said.

At the Kimberley farm in Iowa, Qin joined the host and promoted American beef and bacon on a livestream and tried his hand at driving a John Deere crawler tractor. The Kimberley farm hosted then-Vice President Xi Jinping during his 2012 visit to the US. At the Zoetis plant in Charles City, Qin said they were informed that most of the plant's animal vaccine products are exported to the Chinese market.

At the Smithfield processing plant in Denison, Iowa,Qin and his team had lunch with the workers. They were delighted to know that the world's largest pork producer has created thousands of more American jobs since its acquisition by a Chinese company.

Qin said that the journey had afforded the Chinese delegation a panoramic understanding of the whole industrial chain of America's agriculture, from which they see that American farmers and agricultural companies need China, benefit from China and look forward to further cooperation with China.

"China and the United States are natural partners for agricultural trade. With the Chinese market wide open, the two sides have broad space for further agricultural cooperation, and this is a call to action to create conditions for two-way, normal agricultural trade and lift the additional tariffs and other obstacles," he wrote, "On top of that, our cooperation should not just be about "buy and sell"; it can go deep into agricultural technology, climate action and sustainable development. Economic and trade ties, especially those in agriculture, are the ballast of China-US relations, and the American business community and farmers are the backbone of a stable China-US relationship — this trip has deepened my belief in this basic fact."

Qin and his team visited the Sino-US Friendship House in Muscatine, where President Xi Jinping stayed during his visit to Iowa in 1985. They met with old friends Sarah Lande and Luca Berrone, who welcomed President Xi twice. Their recollection of the time-honored friendship was heart-stirring. They also attended the signing ceremony for Chinese enterprises to encourage a sponsorship for local Iowa students to study in China.

"We could tell that the seeds of friendship first sown by President Xi have taken root, sprouted, blossomed and borne fruit in Iowa. We could also see from this experience that the bond between China and the United States is unbreakable, and such bond is forged by all those people who champion the cause of China-US friendship and cooperation," said Qin.

Qin said the delegation was impressed by how nice, sincere, friendly and hard-working the Americans are, and their overwhelming hospitality at every place. He recalled many warm stories and details during the trip. "Chinese and Americans have so much in common — they are both kind and genuine, and they both do all they can to earn a better life for themselves and their families. These shared qualities have made our two nations who we are today, and they are why we have natural affinity for each other." Qin shared his feelings in the article.

Qin and his team visited the University of Chicago and Iowa State University. They saw Chinese students pursue their studies alongside their American friends, a telling example of China-US communication and cooperation. At Yinghua Academy, a Chinese immersion charter school in Minnesota, the Chinese delegation watched its K-8 students sing Chinese songs, play Chinese musical instruments, recite ancient Chinese poems, and recount their stories of learning the Chinese language.

"These young people are like the seedlings of China-US friendship, who will one day grow up, take over this great cause and carry it forward into the future," Qin wrote.

At the end of the article, the Chinese ambassador described the China-US relations as "the mighty Mississippi River which cannot be stopped by any undercurrent in its course to the sea".

"I am convinced that the China-US relationship will also keep surging ahead, towards a better tomorrow," Qin concluded.