China welcomes San Francisco mayor’s visit
▶ US businesses, local officials seek to expand ties, defying ‘decoupling’ calls
China’s Foreign Ministry on Monday extended a warm welcome to San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who is expected to visit China in the coming days, saying that China always supports and encourages exchanges between all walks of life from the two countries.
The San Francisco mayor’s planned trip comes as US local governments and business communities continue to seek better ties with China, defying an attempt by politicians in Washington to decouple the world’s two biggest economies. Visits by US local officials and business executives further demonstrate the win-win nature of bilateral economic ties, analysts said, while stressing the need to firmly counter Washington’s crackdowns.
Commenting on Breed’s upcoming visit to China at a regular press briefing on Monday, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that the Chinese side welcomes Mayor Breed’s visit and hopes that this visit will achieve positive results and further promote San Francisco’s cooperation with China and China-US local exchanges.
Breed will visit China from April 13 to April 21, with stops in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, according to the San Francisco Standard, a local news outlet.
“I am honored to be invited to travel to China and meet with leaders in business, innovation and government,” Breed was quoted by the news outlet as saying, “to cultivate economic opportunities and strengthen ties between San Francisco and cities across the region.”
Breed’s visit comes after California Governor Gavin Newsom visited China in October 2023, which was described by experts as a resounding success that could inspire other US states in promoting sub-national exchanges.
A host of top US business executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, visited China last week as part of a whirlwind week for China’s economic diplomacy.
“Recently, China and the US have maintained positive interactions, which is a very welcome trend,” Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday, noting that US local officials’ visits to China demonstrate the winwin nature of China-US economic and trade ties.
Breed’s trip will likely focus on practical cooperation in areas such as tourism, said Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade. “The sister city mechanism, provincial and state cooperation mechanisms and other exchange mechanisms between China and the US have all been promoting China-US economic and trade cooperation on different levels,” Li told the Global Times on Monday.