Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

Good afternoon.

First of all, I would like to thank the MMAC World Trade Association for the thoughtful arrangements for today’s event. I also wish to thank Mr. Janzer and Reinhart Boerner for providing us with such a good platform. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, we are now in the Year of the Rat. May I also take this occasion to wish everyone a happy New Year and every success in the year ahead.

I’m so happy to be in this beautiful city of Milwaukee. My awareness of this city all began with a water heater—an A.O. Smith water heater, to be precise, which became a household name in China about 20 years ago.

As time went on, more and more Chinese people learned about Harley-Davidson. Back then, of course, few people could afford a Harley-Davidson—those bikes aren’t cheap! But the good news is, in June of last year, Harley-Davidson and China’s Qianjiang Motorcycle finally launched a new partnership. It looks like a whole lot of Chinese motorcycle enthusiasts will soon get to ride their dream bikes.

Back in 2007, Chinese basketball star, Yi Jianlian, signed a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the NBA draft, becoming the NBA’s fourth ever Chinese player. Through his time with the Bucks, tons of Chinese people have come to know and love Bango.

While these examples may seem nothing too out of the ordinary, they actually are products of a vastly important era. Were it not for China’s reform and opening-up, the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations and the subsequent development of bilateral relations and deepening economic and cultural cooperation, the people of our countries would never have had these many opportunities to interact and their lives would never have seen these many changes.

Forty-one years ago, China and the U.S. established diplomatic relations. Almost during this exact same time, China launched the reform and opening-up program. Over these 41 years, China-U.S. relations have experienced many twists and turns, yet have nonetheless achieved historic development.

In 2018, China-U.S. trade in goods totaled $630 billion, 252 times greater than that of 40 years prior. China has become one of the U.S.’ fastest growing export market of goods. Over the past 10 years, U.S. exports to China gave rise to over 1.1 million American jobs. China is now the U.S.’ third largest export market of goods, as well as the nation’s most important airplane, soybean, automobile, integrated circuit, and cotton export markets.

In 1979, when we just established diplomatic relations, bilateral investment was essentially nonexistent. In 2018, this value increased to over $240 billion. In 2017, U.S.-funded enterprises in China made $700 billion in sales revenue, among which Apple accounted for $44.7 billion, GM $15 billion, Intel $14.8 billion, Qualcomm $14.6 billion, Walmart $12.3 billion, and Boeing $11.9 billion.

Currently, 5.15 million travels are made between our two countries every year. There are 360,000 Chinese students studying in the U.S. and 20,000 Americans studying in China. University of Wisconsin, Marquette University, and Milwaukee School of Engineering all boast a large number of Chinese students.

As of now, our countries share over 50 friendly province-state and 227 sister city relationships. This includes the relationship between Wisconsin and Heilongjiang Province, established way back in October of 1982. Heilongjiang is China’s most northerly province. The land there is fertile, just like here in Wisconsin, and the winter snow is as thick and heavy. The people there are like the people here—warm and sincere. And more importantly, the people from both countries share a strong desire to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation.

China and the U.S. are both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and the two largest economies in the world. Our relationship has long transcended bilateral scope, and are exerting important global influence. In the face of climate change, terrorism, drugs, public health and a host of other global challenges, no one country can go at these problems alone. Now, more than any other point in history, it is crucial that China and the U.S. step up coordination and cooperation in a joint effort to promote global stability and prosperity.

China views Wisconsin as an important friend and business partner. In 2019, trade between China and Wisconsin totaled $7.765 billion. China is Wisconsin’s largest import source country and third largest export destination. However, this year Wisconsin exports to China dropped by 16.2% from 2018, and its imports from China dropped by 21.7%. The trade war is to blame for these decreases.

Behind these cold and faceless statistics lies a harsh reality. The Midwest’s soybean, meat, and dairy exports to China have taken a serious hit. Even high-quality American ginseng grown in Marathon County has struggled in its competition with ginseng in Ontario. Unlike corn and soybean, the harvest cycle of ginseng is six years. This means that any market fluctuations could lay waste to six years of sweat and toil. This is not what we, nor the Chinese government, wish to see. We have always said that cooperation between China and the U.S. brings benefit, whereas conflict brings harm. This is not an empty claim. Recently, I came across a JP Morgan report which said that before the trade war began, trade between China and the U.S. saved every American household $850 on average each year. Yet during the trade war, the cost of new tariffs laid an extra $1,000 yearly burden on common American households—essentially the price of an iPhone 11.

Fortunately, through hard work on the part of both countries, the Chinese and U.S. governments came together on 16 January to sign the phase one trade agreement. On February 6, the Chinese government announced that it would reduce the additional tariffs on $75 billion worth of imported U.S. goods in half. Wisconsin ginseng, dairy products, and cranberry imports are all included on this first list of reduced tariffs. These are positive signals that give us good reasons to be excited and filled with confidence. Our countries’ economies are highly complementary and interdependent. The success of one country presents not a threat, but rather a host of opportunities to the other. Likewise, it is entirely possible for the development of our countries to be mutually promoting. China is not an enemy of the U.S., and China-U.S. relations are not a zero-sum game where one loses and the other wins. There is no winner in a trade war. Increasing tariffs resolves no issues. We are confident that this winter storm will soon pass. But as the sun shines and the snow melts into spring, we still need to guard against cold spell in later spring.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

Last year we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. For 70 years, thanks to the solid leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and the hard work of the Chinese people, China has achieved remarkable success, becoming the world’s second largest economy, and helping nearly 700 million people escape poverty and set foot on the path to prosperity.

Having said this, China remains a developing country. In 2019, while our per capita GDP broke $10,000 for the first time ever, we ranked as low as 72nd in the world, falling below Mexico, and managing only 1/6 of the per capita GDP of the U.S. ($63,809.64). We must roll up our sleeves to work harder and continue to deepen reform and open wider to the world. We will push for the modernization of national governance system and governance capacity, and enable our people to lead a better life. China’s development will bring ever greater opportunities to the rest of the world.

The Chinese government has never halted its steps on the path of reform and opening-up. On the very first day of 2020, China’s new Foreign Investment Law and its related regulations of implementation officially came into effect. This was a landmark occasion for China’s foreign investment legislation and management. In the traditional foreign investment management system, there existed a great number of incentive measures for foreign investment on the one hand, and some access barriers to foreign investment on the other hand. The new Foreign Investment Law is created to completely alter the old system of management, forging a business environment grounded in fair competition for both domestic and foreign enterprises, and constructing a high-level foreign investment protection system.

With regard to market access, China’s foreign investment management system has changed from administrative approval-based to recordation-based. This means that foreign investment no longer needs administrative approval to enter the Chinese market, unless it pertains to a domain specifically outlined on the negative list. Additionally, each year China voluntarily shortens its negative list to relax restrictions or bans on certain areas of foreign investment. When the first version of the negative list was released in 2013, it contained 190 items. Fast forward to 2019, only 40 items remained.

With regard to tariffs, China has worked continuously to reduce tariffs on the basis of its WTO commitment. In 2018, China comprehensively reduced tariffs on pharmaceuticals, cars and car parts, consumer goods and some industrial goods, covering a total of over 3,000 tax items. China’s current level of tariffs has been reduced from 9.8% to 7.5%.

With regard to IP protection, after joining the WTO, China has constantly improved its legal system for IP protection. Currently, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou all have specialised IP courts. In Nanjing and 14 other cities, the municipal intermediate courts have specialized judicial bodies for IP-related matters. In November of 2019, the newly revised Trademark Law came into effect, raising the standards of punitive compensation for IP infringement across the board. Copyright Law and Patent Law are also currently being revised in order to raise the level of protection. When joining the WTO in 2001, China paid only $1.9 billion in IP royalties, in 2017 it paid over $28.6 billion. China is improving IP protection with such determination, forcefulness and speed that are unseen in any other country in the world or even unimaginable in many countries. I’m confident that China’s IP protection will only get even better.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

China’s GDP in 2019 exceeded 99 trillion yuan, or roughly $14.4 trillion, with a growth of 6.1%. Over 300 million Chinese people possess a middle-class income. By the end of 2020, this group of people is expected to grow to 400 million, and by 2030, 600 million people are predicted to join this group. This will be an unprecedentedly enormous, yet mature, consumer market. Let me give you an example. Last year, on November 11, the “Single’s Day”, China’s biggest online shopping day, Alibaba’s Tmall alone achieved a real-time turnover of 268.4 billion yuan or around $38.8 billion, and in just 1 minute and 36 seconds, Tmall made a turnover of over 10 billion yuan or around $1.4 billion. Compare that to last year’s Black Friday in the U.S. On Amazon, Ebay and every other online shopping platforms combined, Americans just consumed a total of $7.4 billion. This is the Chinese market—a market full of opportunities and challenges, a market that brings excitement and energy to an innumerable amount of small and medium-sized businesses.

To give you another example, starting in 2018, China has begun to hold its annual Chinese International Import Expo. This is the first of its kind in the world, meaning that all of the items on display are foreign brands. Last year, 3,800 businesses from 181 countries attended the second annual expo, producing $71.1 billion in intended business volume. This year from November 5 to 10, Shanghai will organize the third annual expo. China welcomes with open arms all friends in the U.S. including Wisconsin and other countries to participate in the Chinese market and share the benefits of China’s development.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

We are all well aware that China is now fighting against the novel coronavirus epidemic. Currently, over 70,000 Chinese people have been infected, making the battle even more severe. The Chinese government has given top priority to the prevention and control of the epidemic as well as the protection of the people’s health and well-being, making every effort to treat patients, implementing strict epidemic prevention and control plans, and conducting in-depth epidemiological investigations. United and determined, the people of the entire Chinese nation are working hand-in-hand to fight this epidemic. We have also shared information and strengthened cooperation with the World Health Organization and other countries in an open, transparent and responsible manner, which has been highly praised by WHO and the international community. We moved in the quickest possible way to disclose the number of infected people, publicize research results, alert the world to the potential development trend of the epidemic, and continuously update feasible treatment plans. All this has provided good reference to the WHO and other countries, contributing to their prevention and control effort. This has shown China’s sense of responsibility. During this process, Americans from Wisconsin and other states in various fields have actively provided assistance and support to the Chinese people. The fight against this epidemic once again proves that the fate of all nations is linked together and that we must work together to cope with difficulties and challenges. With the strong leadership of the Chinese government, the perseverance, unity, devotion and hard work of the Chinese people, and the effective cooperation of the international community, China is fully confident and capable of defeating the epidemic.

Thank you for your attention!