Spotlight: Economy a pillar of sub-national partnerships between China, U.S.

"It's about the economy," said an American presidential candidate during the 1992 campaign, when others in the same race mostly focused on politics.

The phrase since has been around in the United States, where national politics is increasingly polarized, mostly on an ideology basis, while it hardly makes its way into international politics or between China and the U.S.

In reality, economic growth, job gains and personal incomes are now the topics of choice by peoples in the two largest economies of the world.

OCEAN LESS APART

China and the U.S. do have disputes, and sometimes the way to look at them appears to be ocean apart.

American politicians, especially those in Washington D.C. and outside the administration, seem to be more negative.

However, Patrick Santillo, deputy assistant secretary with the U.S. Department of Commerce, told a seminar on Tuesday that people involved in sub-national projects are optimistic; and at least on the U.S. side, out of total 50 states, 42 have seen triple-digit growth of exports to China since 2005.

Santillo was speaking to a mixed American and Chinese audience of about 450, including officials of national and local governments, leaders of some big-name U.S. businesses as well as less prominent Chinese businesses, plus representatives of chambers of commerce, trade associations and intermediary agencies.

Other speakers also took the podium, and the most enjoyable moment was when Dr. Zhang Qin, a Chinese American professor with the University of Washington, talked about and tried to compare yields of apple orchards in Washington state, of the U.S. Pacific Northwest, and in Shaanxi province, in China's northwest.

For his part, Santillo did share his personal observations that over 30 years of his service at the U.S. Department of Commerce, "some of the most interesting and enjoyable experiences are with sub-national projects."

About the same time as Santillo and Zhang spoke, several blocks away in downtown Seattle, Chinese President Xi Jinping told a group of U.S. state and Chinese provincial leaders that national relations "ultimately rely on the support of the people and serve the people. Provinces and states are closest to the people."

GROWING AWARENESS

Xi, on the first leg of his first state U.S. tour as Chinese president, said he is "deeply aware of the importance of sub-national cooperation to the growth of overall relations between countries."

Speaking before the 3rd China-U.S. governors' forum, where six U.S. state governors met and talked with six Chinese provincial governors, President Xi acknowledged that "without successful cooperation at the sub-national level, it would be very difficult to achieve practical results for cooperation at the national level."

He believes that now the "time is right" for provinces and states on the two sides of the Pacific Ocean to work together.

Jay Inslee, governor of Washington state, was among the audience.

At the forum, he and five other U.S. governors signed an accord with their Chinese counterparts to advance growth opportunities related to renewable and clean energy technologies.

"Both in China and America, we breath the same air," Inslee said during an earlier press briefing with a group of Chinese journalists. "We know we have to have new clean energy systems to give us clean air and energy to grow our economies."

He recognized China as "the No. 1 job creator" in the export sector of his state, given the fact that nearly one-fourth of Washington's total exports went to China last year.

During the Chinese president's two-day stay in Seattle, Washington state signed an memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a number of Chinese provinces for a joint working group for promoting trade and investment, and a deal with Guangdong province, of south China, to explore opportunities in advanced manufacturing and life sciences.

GAINING MOMENTUM

Washington was not the first state to engage Chinese provinces, said Xia Xiang, economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco.

The first such working groups was formed between California and six Chinese provinces in 2013.

In his understanding, Xia told Xinhua that Chinese and U.S. "national governments develop economic partnerships, but somebody has to deliver. And in most cases, they are people at the provincial and state level turning out local projects."

Terry Branstad, governor of Iowa, joined Inslee and Governor Jerry Brown of California to meet the Chinese president and Chinese provincial leaders in Seattle.

Meanwhile, Laura Foell, a 5th generation farmer from Iowa, mediated a panel session on agricultural topics at the China-U.S. trade and investment seminar. She thanked several times for the trade relations with Chinese buyers.

Off the stage, Foell explained in her capacity as chairman of U.S. Soybean Exporting Commission that about 60 percent of soybean produced in the United States is for export, and roughly half of the volume goes to China. Therefore, for regional economies and farm communities, relations with China are important.

Inslee visited China in 2013 as part of a trade mission to Asia.

Asked by a Chinese journalist's about whether he has a plan to work in Washington D.C., he answered without hesitation, and with a smile: "No, we prefer to work here, in this state, the real Washington." Enditem

(Editor Xu Yong, reporter Yang Lei also contributed to the story