China to continue encouraging sub-national, people-to-people exchanges with U.S.: spokesperson

BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- China will continue to support and encourage sub-national and people-to-people exchanges with the United States, and also hopes that the United States will work with China to create favorable conditions and the atmosphere for sub-national and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a related query about the fifth China-U.S. Sister Cities Conference recently held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

Noting sister city cooperation started when China and the United States established diplomatic ties, Wang said since 1979, the two countries have set up 284 pairs of sister provinces/states and cities, providing strong support for growing China-U.S. relations.

The Conference is a major event in China-U.S. sub-national and people-to-people exchanges since COVID-19, Wang said, adding the Conference and sideline events attracted about 200 participants, including representatives from over 10 Chinese provinces and cities and nearly 20 county supervisors and city mayors from 22 U.S. states. Under the theme of "Build Green Cities for the People," participants had in-depth exchanges of views, shared experience, explored opportunities for cooperation and achieved good results.

The conference reflects the keen interest and strong dynamism in sub-national and people-to-people exchanges, and also shows that friendly cooperation is wanted by people from both countries, Wang added.