Partnership between COSCO, Port of Boston testifies to China-U.S. win-win cooperation: ambassador

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- The cooperation between China's shipping giant COSCO and the U.S. Port of Boston has been an example of the win-win economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang said on Friday.

Qin made the remarks at a ceremony after accepting the plaque of recognition and a commemorative jacket from the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) and the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA).

Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the opening of a direct vessel service to Boston by China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited (COSCO Shipping), Qin said COSCO Shipping's cooperation with the Port of Boston "has not only saved 9,000 jobs in the region's shipping industry, but also created another 400,000 jobs and energized many trading companies."

Calling their cooperation a good example, Qin said that "in China's 40-plus years of reform and opening-up, the U.S. has got deeply involved in China's development, and also benefited a lot from it."

China-U.S. trade has provided many quality but inexpensive products for American consumers, and supported 2.6 million American jobs, said the ambassador, adding "China and the U.S. have long been bound together by our shared interests."

"We have learned from the past five decades that China-U.S. cooperation can deliver many good things for both countries and the whole world," Qin said, citing the "tangible benefits and opportunities for places like the Port of Boston, for our longshoremen, and for all of us."

China and the United States "have no better choice than solidarity and cooperation" in the face of global challenges, including fighting the pandemic, restoring growth, stabilizing the industrial chain and supply chain, and addressing climate change, he said, calling on the two sides to follow the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation and bringing bilateral relations back to the right track.

This will give the world "some long-awaited stability and certainty," Qin said, warning that "if China and the U.S. enter into conflict and confrontation, if we fight a trade war or a new 'Cold War,' it will be a political tragedy that benefits no one."

Michael Meyran, maritime director of Massport, said at the ceremony that the 20-year partnership between COSCO Shipping and the Port of Boston has been the perfect model of how to do business between the two countries, adding that he hopes to continue this partnership in the long term.

ILA Vice President Bernie O'Donnell, representing more than 9,000 longshoremen at the Port of Boston and their families, expressed his appreciation to the Chinese companies for their long-term contributions to Boston.