Chinese foreign friendship chief seeks to boost relations with tour of US
- Yang Wanming, head of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, began his 12-day tour in the American capital on Saturday
- The visit is designed to ‘deepen the friendship between the two peoples and advance cooperation between sister cities’ through non-official channels
A delegation led by Yang Wanming, president of the semi-official Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, arrived in Washington on Saturday to begin a 12-day tour of the country. During the visit he is also visiting Texas, Nevada, California and Washington state.
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“The visit aims to … deepen the friendship between the two peoples and advance cooperation between sister cities,” the agency said, adding that meetings would be held at the “civil and subnational” level.
Government officials, law enforcement agencies and the two countries’ militaries have also stepped up exchanges following their meeting, while Beijing has also been placing a greater focus on cultivating relations at a non-governmental and local level.
The friendship association said Yan had attended a welcome dinner in Washington DC hosted by the Albright Stonebridge Group, where he exchanged views with executives from 22 multinationals including former United States trade representative Carla Anderson Hills and Robert Goldstein, chief executive of Las Vegas Sands.
