T H E INTERVIEW
Ambassador Li Qiangmin
Consul General of People’s Republic of China
in Houston
By Dawn Gunther, iF Magazine Contributing Writer
States. I always say that the South-
ern U.S. is a “rich mine” in terms of
bilateral cooperation. We have great
potentials of cooperation in energy,
education, health care, agriculture,
innovation and many other areas.
The 40-year history of our country’s
reform and opening up keeps the
similar pace with the 40-year devel-
opment of China-US relations. We
cherish the fruitful results of reform
and opening up, as well as the devel-
opment of the bilateral relations.
China-US relationship has been one
of the most important bilateral rela-
tions in the world. In 2017, we made
important progress in this relationship.
President Xi and President Trump
maintained close communication,
which has provided strategic guidance
for the relationship. Four high-level
dialogue mechanisms were set up and
worked successfully. Hopefully these
mechanisms will continue to work well
this year. Both sides have kept active
coordination and collaboration in bi-
lateral, regional and global issues.
Q: What are some past, present and
future goals for China’s relationship
with the U.S.?
A:
In 1979, Chinese leader, Deng
Xiaoping, was greeted with a cow-
boy hat at the Houston rodeo dur-
ing his visit to the states and waved
to the audiences. This impressed the
American public of the open and
friendly attitude of Chinese leader
and marked a turning point in Amer-
icans’ views of Communist China.
This year is the 40th anniversary of
China’s reform and opening up. Next
year marks the 40th anniversary of
the normalization of the relation-
ship between China and the United
States and Mr. Deng’s visit to U.S.
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