Fitial holds private audience with Chinese governors

[B]SALT LAKE CITY, Utah[/B]—Following the historic U.S.-China Governors Forum held Friday afternoon as part of the 2011 National Governors Association’s annual meeting, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial (R-MP) held three separate one-on-one meetings with key provincial leaders from China.

The forum served as a unique peer-to-peer exchange between U.S. and Chinese governors established to strengthen a sub-national dialogue between the two countries and will focus on topics of mutual interest.

Li Xiaolin, vice president of The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, led the Chinese delegation in an in-depth dialogue with the governors from all across America. Li and the attending provincial governors highlighted the pressing need to promote a balance of trade between the world’s two largest market countries. She placed considerable emphasis on the upholding mutual trust and expanding trade cooperation to further grow the countries’ economies.

As part of the gubernatorial partnership established through the NGA, the Chinese delegation is expecting to receive the American governors in Beijing sometime in October. Li hinted that the Beijing meeting will showcase the economic opportunities that China can offer to the United States.

Recognizing the importance of China’s influence in the world economy, Fitial had pre-arranged exclusive audiences with members of the Chinese delegation to the NGA annual meeting.

On Saturday afternoon, Fitial met separately with Li, Gov. Luo Huining (Qinghai Province), and Gov. Wang Sanyun (Anhui Province). During the one-to-one meetings, Fitial pitched the Commonwealth’s rich history and the islands’ pristine beauty known to captivate the hearts of its primary tourism markets in Asia. The governor also shared the CNMI’s current economic challenges and sought the assistance of the Chinese leaders to engage in meaningful trade partnerships aimed at reinvigorating the economy and putting the CNMI people back on the road to prosperity. He also touted the attractive tax structure in the CNMI as an added incentive for large scale investors.

Luo and Mayor Mao Xiaobing lauded the Fitial administration’s efforts to grow the Commonwealth’s economy even in the midst of its current economic challenges. Luo, whose province boasts of an abundance of available human resources, noted that he will look into assembling a team to conduct an official visit to the CNMI.

For his part, Wang expressed considerable interest in exploring tourism opportunities between the NMI and his province of Anhui. Wang also would consider the Commonwealth as a viable location for the province’s plans to expand its primary industries to include manufacturing of information technology devices and home appliances. [B][I](Office of the Governor)[/I][/B]