Direct Houston-Beijing flight to boost China-U.S. exchanges, cooperation: officials (2)

"In 1979, Houston was one of the stops of China's late leader Deng Xiaoping's historic visit to the U.S. In the same year, it became the host city of China's very first Consulate General in the U.S.," Xu said.

"The non-stop flight between Houston and Beijing, as dreamed by many people for many years, will not only shorten the distance between Houston and China, but also help expand future cooperation between the southern part of the U.S. and China, and help foster stronger ties between our two great countries," she said.

Echoing Parker and Xu, Houston Airport System Director Mario Diaz expressed hope that the route would boost future exchanges and cooperation between Houston and China.

"There is no more exciting and no more important thing than a direct flight between Beijing and Houston. It is going to be tremendous in terms of economic impact, cultural ties and visitors," Diaz said.

Trade between Houston and China has grown in nominal value since 2000 at a compound annual growth rate of 20.5 percent, according to the Great Houston Partnership, an economic development organization serving the Greater Houston area.

A total of 517 Houston companies report doing business in China with 2,734 subsidiaries, the organization said.

Business ties between China and U.S. state of Texas have also grown rapidly in recent years. Texas' exports to China reached 8.91 billion U.S. dollars in 2009, ranking third in the 50 U.S. states and almost 10 times the volume of 900 million dollars in 1999.

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