On August 26, Consul General Wang Baodong attended the Heartland Connect for Trade & Investment in Chicago upon invitation and delivered remarks. The dialogue, co-hosted by Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the U.S. Heartland China Association (USHCA), focused on agriculture, food, and health. Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng delivered the keynote speech via video. USHCA Vice Chair Susan Thornton, Former Governor of Illinois State Pat Quinn, President of the U.S. China Business Council Sean Stein and other important guests also delivered remarks. Nearly 200 representatives from government, business, and academia of both countries participated.

Consul General Wang presented China's policy position on developing China-U.S. relations and sub-national cooperation between the two countries, stating that the two sides have achieved fruitful results in cooperation in agriculture, food and health, benefiting people in both countries. Mutually beneficial cooperation remains the foundation of China-U.S. economic and trade relations, and dialogue should be advanced on the basis of equality, mutual respect, and reciprocity. The future of China-U.S. relations requires not only leadership at the top, but also strong local support. It is hoped that sub-national cooperation between the two countries will deepen, economic and people-to-people exchanges will become more robust, and overall China-U.S. relations will grow healthier.