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Remarks by Mr. Zhao Weiping, Chinese Consul General to Chicago, at the New Year's Dinner Hosted by Detroit Chinese Business Association
2013-03-09 03:34

 

Remarks by Mr. Zhao Weiping, Chinese Consul General to Chicago at the New Year's Dinner Hosted by Detroit Chinese Business Association

March 2, 2013

 

Mr. Jerry Xu, President of Detroit Chinese Business Association,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

      It is a great pleasure for my colleagues and my self to join you at this wonderful dinner reception in celebration of the Chinese New Year of the Snake.    

      I wish to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the Detroit Chinese Business Association for its active role in promoting the business relations between China and the US as well as for its support to the work of the Chinese Consulate over the years.

      Economic cooperation between China and Michigan is certainly one of the major focuses of my job.

      China enjoys strong business relations with Michigan. The bilateral trade between them has been growing fast in recent years, with the export from Michigan to China reaching 3.3 billion US dollars last year, a growth of 21% from the previous year, which makes China one of the fastest growing overseas markets for Michigan.

      The mutual investment between China and Michigan has been active for many years. Famous US companies such as GM, Ford, Chrysler, Dow Chemicals and Whirlpool have significant investment in China and are making great profits. Meanwhile, an increasing number of Chinese companies have set foot in the land of Michigan.

      Looking to the future, I am optimistic about China's business relations with the United States as a whole as well as with individual states like Michigan.

      As agreed upon by the leaders of our two countries, China and the United States have been working hard to build a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit. The general situation of the China-US relations will continue to be favorable for economic cooperation between our two countries.

      As a matter of fact, China-US business relations have been booming for many years. China and the United States have become the second largest trading partners to each other. In 2012, the bilateral trade between our two countries reached a new high of 485 billion US dollars. With the further growth of the Chinese and American economies, there will be even greater need for bilateral cooperation on both sides. 

      By saying the above, I do not mean that we can sit back and the pennies will fall from the heaven. On the contrary, we should still work hard. We should be more ambitious in setting our goals and never be complacent with what we have achieved.

      As you may already know, China's accumulated import volume is expected to reach 8 trillion U.S. dollars in the five years between 2012 and 2017. And by the end of 2017, China's total outbound investment is expected to total 500 billion U.S. dollars. I do hope that America and Michigan will enjoy big share in these two big "cakes".

      As Chinese Consul General, I will be very happy to make more friends with the business community in my consular district including Michigan. I am ready to listen to your advice and know your needs and business plans with the goal of providing my best service to all of you.

      In closing, I wish all of you a prosperous and healthy new year.

      Thank you.

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