Liu Yandong's diplomatic charm

Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Yandong tips off the ball for the game between Tsinghua High School basketball team and Houston Select Team in Houston on Sunday. Chang Jun / China Daily

On the morning of the second day of her visit to Houston, China's Vice-Premier Liu Yandong played a little hoops - making a basket after three tries - and tipped off the ball for a basketball scrimmage between the Tsinghua High School team and the Houston Select U18 Boys team on Sunday.

Then, along with Vice-Minister of Education Hao Ping, NBA China CEO David Shoemaker, NBA Legend Yao Ming, Houston Rockets CEO Tad Brown and the delegation team, Liu watched the first quarter of the game.

The NBA invited the Tsinghua High School team to visit Houston from June 16-21 to attend six days of basketball clinics conducted by the Houston Rockets' player development coach Kevin Burleson. The program is part of a partnership established between the NBA and China's Ministry of Education in October 2014. Full story

Rice University President David Leebron (left) welcomes Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Yandong to make the keynote address to the US-China University Presidents Roundtable at Rice University in Houston on Monday. MAY ZHOU/CHINA DAILY

China's Vice-Premier Liu Yandong challenged university presidents from both China and the United States to deepen and broaden cooperation in higher education.

The presidents and chancellors of more than 50 major US and Chinese universities met at Rice University in Houston for the US-China University Presidents Roundtable.

They discussed global education, research collaboration and cultural exchange. The topics addressed during the closed roundtable sessions included the value of a liberal arts education, new frontiers for research collaboration and ways to improve higher education cooperation between the US and China. Full story