NANJING, CHINA – Moving to expand collaboration between California and its Chinese sister-state, Jiangsu, on climate change, technology, education and tourism, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed an agreement with the province’s top government official on Sunday, day five of the state’s trade and investment mission.
“The transformation in China the last two or three decades indicates the power of the human mind and how people, when they work together, can almost move mountains,” Governor Brown said at a meeting with Party Secretary Luo Zhijun, prior to signing the agreement. “And I take inspiration from that because we have many mountains to move – metaphorically speaking – in California and the United States.”
Today’s meeting and agreement builds on the partnership established when Governor Brown met with the Jiangsu Party Secretary in February 2012 during the then-Vice President of China’s visit to Los Angeles. In May 2012, the administration hosted Jiangsu government officials in Sacramento to convene the inaugural Jiangsu-California Joint Economic Committee.
“The desire of Jiangsu’s top leadership to meet with the Governor’s delegation shows not only the attractiveness of California’s innovative business economy, but also the value of establishing personal friendships with those leaders,” said Robert Griffiths, Consul General of the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, who participated in today’s events.
Jiangsu is home to nearly 80 million people and has a GDP of $860 billion. Like California, the province has an extensive coastline, stretching more than 600 miles.
Under the agreement signed Sunday, California and Jiangsu agreed to: partner on renewable energy, biomedicine, information technology and high-technology agriculture; hold a “Jiangsu Week” later this year to promote tourism, business and culture in Jiangsu; ensure the Sino-American Technological Innovation Park in Wuxi participates on the Joint Economic Committee established last year; and support training programs for Jiangsu civil servants at California universities.
“California has a spirit of invention and creativity and doing the unimaginable,” said Governor Brown. “So I think that’s an area where we could exchange together – challenging our respective businesses and scientists and researchers to advance human well-being through these new technologies.”
Jiangsu is one of six provinces and municipalities that will participate in the China-California Joint Working Group established last week with the Ministry of Commerce to bolster trade and investment cooperation between California and China.
Governor Brown traveled to Nanjing with delegates representing his office, GO-Biz, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the California Energy Commission, the California High Speed Rail Authority and the Bay Area Council.
On Friday in Shanghai, Governor Brown opened the California-China Office of Trade and Investment, spoke at Visit California’s news conference and met with Shanghai’s top government official, Party Secretary Han Zheng.
This followed a number of events in Beijing earlier this week, including remarks at Tsinghua University, meetings with China’s Premier, Minister of Commerce, Minister of Environmental Protection, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, a forum with the American Chamber of Commerce – Beijing and a reception at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing with the U.S. Ambassador to China.
Tomorrow in Guangzhou, Governor Brown will participate in a breakfast forum with the American Chamber of Commerce – South China. Later he will sign an agreement with the Guangdong province, which has the largest population and economy of all of China’s provinces.
On Tuesday, Governor Brown will travel to Shenzhen for a meeting with senior government officials and a tour of BYD’s Worldwide Headquarters.
The Governor’s trade and investment mission follows more than a year of significant diplomatic and business exchanges between the State of California and China. In February 2012, Governor Brown welcomed His Excellency Xi Jinping, then-Vice President, and now President of China, to California. During the visit, Governor Brown announced his intention to visit China, open a trade and investment office and form a China-California Joint Task Force to drive more collaboration, investment and trade between California and China. Later in 2012, the Brown administration convened the inaugural Joint Economic Committee between California and China’s Jiangsu Province, hosted a Chinese delegation led by the Vice Minister of China’s Ministry of Commerce and met with a Chinese delegation led by Deputy Governor Xia Geng of China’s Shandong Province.
Full text of the agreement is copied below:
Memorandum of Understanding On Friendly Cooperation Between The State of California, United States of America And Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China
At the invitation of Mr. Luo Zhijun, Secretary of CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee, Mr. Edmund Gerald Brown, Governor of California led an official and business delegation to visit Nanjing, Jiangsu on April 14th, 2013. During the visit, Governor Brown and Party Secretary Luo Zhijun held friendly talks and reviewed the cooperation between the two sides since the establishment of the sister-state relationship in the fields of trade and economic cooperation, education, culture, science and technology. With the purpose of pressing ahead the cooperation between the two sides in 2013, the following agreements were reached:
I. To promote high-level visits and friendly exchanges between the two sides. Jiangsu Week will be jointly held by California and Jiangsu in the second half of 2013 at a mutually convenient time to enhance exchanges in culture, humanities and promote pragmatic cooperation.
II. To prioritize the cooperation in the sectors of new energy, new material, biomedicine, new generation of information technology and high-tech agriculture in 2013. Enterprises from both sides are encouraged to carry out trade and investment cooperation with the support from Jiangsu Chamber of International Commerce, Jiangsu Federation of Industry and Commerce, Bay Area Council and California Asia Pacific Chamber of Commerce. Governments from both sides shall provide service and facilitation for such activities, including the California Center Asia Pacific Chamber of Commerce’s “California Center” located in Jiangsu Province.
III. To include the Sino-American Technological Innovation Park in Wuxi under the framework of Jiangsu-California Joint Economic Committee. The Park will be built as a highlight of Sino-American technological and economic cooperation, which will provide new opportunities for the development of both economies.
IV. To strengthen the cooperation in talents training. Both sides will support the training programs for Jiangsu senior civil servants, management personnel from universities and enterprises (including private enterprises) and high-tech talents in the institutions of higher learning in California.
This Memorandum of Understanding is signed in Nanjing on April 14th, 2013 in the languages of English and Chinese, both texts being equally authentic.
Edmund G. Brown Jr.
Governor of California State
Luo Zhijun
Party Secretary of Jiangsu Province