Laurie Farris speaking at seminar

On March 29, the American States Visiting Hubei: Hubei-US Economic Cooperation and Exchange Seminar took place in Wuhan.

The seminar was jointly held by the Foreign Affairs Office of Hubei Provincial People's Government (Hubei FAO), China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), Hubei Sub-Council, and the Consulate General of the United States in Wuhan. The goal of the seminar was to promote friendly exchanges and economic and trade cooperation between the two sides. Attending the seminar were Laurie Farris, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in China, Zhu Xiaobin, Deputy Director-General of Hubei FAO, Li Xiaoyan, Deputy Director-General of CCPIT, Hubei Sub-Council, Ren Jian, Deputy Director of CCPIT, Wuhan Sub-Council and many other representatives of the two sides.

Laurie Farris said that the U.S. warmly welcomes commercial investors from all over the world. "We are proud to work together with such professional service providers and the U.S. economic development organizations that can help you better understand and navigate the U.S. as an investment destination." She also expressed her willingness to help more Hubei companies invest overseas and promote economic cooperation between Hubei and American states.

Zhu Xiaobin said in his speech that the U.S. had always been an important economic and trade partner of Hubei. In 2022, the bilateral trade volume reached RMB 67.4 billion. A large number of American companies, such as Corning, Cummins and Honeywell, have been deeply involved in the development process of Hubei. He added: "Hubei will hold various activities later this year to build more platforms for exchanges and cooperation with other countries."

At the seminar, CCPIT, Hubei Sub-Council signed friendly cooperative agreements with the Council of American States in China with the aim of providing guidance and assistance for enterprises on both sides engaging in trade and investment cooperation. After representatives from several American states like Ohio, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania introduced their business environment and advantageous industries, more than 50 Hubei enterprises took part in dialogues with those from the U.S., which led to a number of cooperation intentions.

Before the seminar, the U.S. delegation paid a visit to Yichang to learn about the local key enterprises and business environment.

Editor: Zong Xia