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A year ago, when Mayor Turner was leading a
72-member delegation to visit China, the largest del-
egation Houston ever had abroad, he declared that
Houston and China have reached “a golden moment”
of mutual economic advantage. The delegation visited
China’s three first-tier cities, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and
Beijing, which truly embarked on a new phase of re-
lationship between China and Houston. Over the last
year, not only economic ties are tightening, mutual
understanding and friendship are also deepening, just
to name a few:
The importance of economic and trade cooperation
between the two sides can never be exaggerated. China
has become the second largest trading partner of Hous-
ton. According to Greater Houston Partnership(GHP)
research, from 2008 to 2017, trade between China
and Houston averaged $13.8 billion annually, and has
jumped to $18.8 billion in 2017. Forty-four Houston
firms operate 114 subsidiary locations in China, in-
cluding BMC Software, NetIQ and Universal Weather
& Aviation. Roughly 114 Chinese firms have invested
about 14 billion U.S. dollars in Houston, including
Petrochina, Sinochem, and TPCO Enterprise. Just a
month ago, the GHP led a delegation to China and
participated in China’s first International Import Expo.
At the opening ceremony, President Xi Jinping reaf-
firmed that China will broaden its opening-up, work
toward greater opening in the agricultural, mining and
20 iF Magazine | January 2019