On February 28, 2018, Consul General Hong Lei met with Mayor Lyda Krewson of St. Louis, Missouri.

Consul General Hong Lei said that as a major city in the Midwest, St. Louis has greatly expanded its economic and trade cooperation with China in recent years. Among other fields, there are also close interactions between St. Louis and China in cultural and educational exchanges that have achieved encouraging results. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of sister city relations between Nanjing and St. Louis. China attaches great importance to the sister-city relationship between Nanjing and St. Louis, which is the very first sister-city relationship between China and the United States. China hopes that Mayor Krewson will promote greater development in sister-city relationship with China during her tenure.

Consul General Hong Lei stated that as China's development enters a new era, China’s development potential will bring new and unprecedented opportunities to nations around the world, including the United States. We hope that St. Louis will seize new opportunities brought by China's development, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with China, and propel St. Louis's relations with China to a new level.

Mayor Krewson said that she attaches great importance to the sister city relationship between St. Louis and Nanjing, and looks forward to visiting Nanjing in the near future to further deepen the friendly cooperation between the two sides. Before serving as mayor, she worked in an architecture firm and participated in multiple collaborative design projects with China, therefore she had a personal understanding of opportunities China’s development has brought to the world. St. Louis will utilize its own advantages, continue to deepen cooperation with China in various fields, and promote ever greater development of bilateral relations.