（July 27，2024）

Mr. Chi Honghu,
Secretary Amy Tong,
Mayor Willie Brown,
Mr. Aaron Peskin,
Mr. David Haubert,
Professor Scott Rozelle,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,

It gives me great pleasure to join you in celebrating this 45th anniversary year of China-U.S. diplmatoic relationship. San Francisco has a special place in the past and future of our bilateral relationship.

The San Francisco Bay Area has witnessed over a century of interactions between the Chinese and American peoples. The Pacific Railroad, one of the "Seven Industrial Wonders of the World", wasbuilt 155 yearsago with the arduous efforts of over ten thousand Chinese laborers. The railroad, spanning fromthe East Coast to the West Coast, connects the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. The city is also home to the oldest Chinatown in the Western Hemisphere.

Today, over 5 million Chinese Americans live in the United States. With diligence and ingenuity, they play an important part in local communities and set up the bridgesfor mutual understanding between the two countries.

The San Francisco Bay Area has also witnessed shining moments in China-U.S.relationship:

In 1945, China and the United States jointly initiated the San Francisco Conference, which led to the creation of the United Nations;

Last November, the summit meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden restored the relationship to stability and established avision for its future;

Governor Newsom and Mayor Breed both made successful visits to China, the first "China-U.S. Bay Area Dialogue" was successfully held last May; and,

Next year, San Francisco will welcome giant pandas for the first time in 40 years.

All of these are vivid examples to prove that the vitality of China-U.S. relationship lies in the sub-national levels.

Dear Friends,

Forty-five years ago, the establishment of the diplomatic relationship was a milestone in China-U.S.as well as international relations. It was also a significant event that benefited the two nations and contributed to world peace and prosperity.

Over the past 45 years, the giant ship of China-U.S. relationship has navigated through both calm waters and turbulent currents. It hasmade tremendous accomplishments almost unimaginable half a century ago:

Bilateral trade has grown more than 200 times, accounting for one-fifth of the global trade;

Two-way investment has topped $260 billion;

Before the pandemic, more than 5 million people traveled across the Pacific every year.

The two countries have worked togetherto combat terrorism, tackle financial crises and climate change, taking on important responsibilities on almost all global challenges.

The relationship has grown into one of the most deeply intertwined bilateral relationship with the broadest areas ofshared interests and cooperation.

In my view, the past and present reveal to us three important points:

First, antagonism harms both sides while partnership benefits us all. The root cause for the ups and downs over the past few years is that the U.S. side takes China as its main competitor. Some even refer to China as the “existential threat”. Containment and regime-change, typical in the Cold War years, are short-sighted and dangerous, as pointed out already by many fair-minded people.

Inciting hatred with McCarthyist language serves no one’s interest. Taking China as the imaginary enemy could funnel the U.S. strategic resources to the wrong place.

China has no plan to challenge or replace the U.S., nor should the U.S. attempt to contain China;

China does not interfere in the U.S. election and domestic politics, and the U.S. should refrain from interfering in China’s domestic affairs and playing the “China card” in the election year.

When we see each other as friends and partners, the China-U.S. relationship will develop better.

Second, differences are not formidable, and we should resolve them through dialogue. It is only natural that China and the U.S. may differ on this or that issues. But differences should not prevent us from seeking common ground, developing the bilateral ties and deepening cooperation based on mutual interest. The key is to manage differences properly, not allowing them to dominate the relationship.

It is unrealistic to intimidate China through the “maximum pressure”. Only dialogue helps bring solutions. China keeps open the door to communication. After the San Francisco summit meeting, more than 20 mechanisms for communication have been established or resumed.

China and the U.S. can and must enhance mutual trust and diffuse misgivings through dialogue. More importantly, the two sides should respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, and address the sensitive issues such as Taiwan according to the three Sino-U.S. Joint Communiqués.

The Chinese and American people have a tradition of friendship. The people-to-people ties should not be taken hold by the politics of the moment.

We hope to see more direct flights and mutual visits between our students and scholars. That helps cement the foundation of the relationship.

We hope to see the State Department’s “travel advisory” about China revised and no more cases of Chinese students being unfairly treated at the U.S. airports.

Third, decoupling leads to no where, and we need to work together for win-win results. China’s development and trade with the U.S. contribute to the latter’s economic growth, broaden the market prospects to American companies and bring high-quality and inexpensive goods to American households.

The over 70,000 American companies are sharing in the dividends of China’s development. Their exports to China have supported 930,000 American jobs. If the US really gets “disadvantaged”, how is it possible for cooperation to have lasted for 40 to 50 years?

Is it really in the U.S. interests to focus solely on containing China, even at the cost of abandoning free trade, market principles and the spirit of contracts?

Trade war, industrial war and techwar have no winners. Decoupling will not bring the wanted results. Statistics show that endingthe permanent normal trade relations with China would lead to a 1.6 trillion-dollar economic loss for the U.S.

To our two countries, respective success means mutual opportunities, not challenges, andthe two sides should help each other succeed.

We need to make the list of cooperation longer and the negative list shorter.We should diffuse the negative, zero-sum narratives with the uplifting stories of dialogue and cooperation.

Dear Friends,

China is advancing its modernization through high-quality development. This will mean stronger momentum for global growth and a broader platform for companies and talents to thrive. In the first half of 2024, the Chinese economy showed steady improvement. GDP grew by 5 percent, and import and export were up by 6.1 percent year-on-year. To the global economy, China remains a strong sourceof growth and stability.

Openness is a defining feature of Chinese modernization. Last week, the much-anticipated Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was successfully held. The Resolution adopted by the session,about 20,000 words long, proposes more than 300 key reform measures. With faster pace in comprehensively deepening reform, Chinese modernization will reach a new height.

We will continue to uphold opening-up as a basic policy,build up a high-level open economic system, create new opportunities and inject fresh momentum into global development.

We welcome the Chinese community in the U.S. to seize the opportunities, and we look forward to your continued contribution to the development of China, to the China-U.S. relationship and friendship between our two peoples. Whenever you need, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. is ready to help address your concerns and extend a helping hand.

President Xi Jinping has said, China-U.S. relationship cannot go back to the old days but can embrace a better future. President Abraham Lincoln has said, the best way to predict your future is to create it.

I believe China and the US have the wisdom, courage and capability to rise above the old path of major-country competition.

Let us act with a sense of responsibility to history, to our people and to the world.

Let us follow the principles of mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and win-win cooperation to promote stable, sound and sustainable development of China-U.S. relationship.

Let us act now to take on the baton of history and carry it forward. Together, we will usher in an even brighter future for our two peoples and humanity as a whole.

Thank you.