Director Xu Bu Attends the "A River Dialogue Between Shanghai and New York"

The Shanghai Public Relations Association, the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, and the Shanghai Institute for American Studies jointly hosted the "A River Dialogue Between Shanghai and New York" with the theme of "Common Ideals And Common Future" on July 26^th. Over 200 guests, including experts and professionals from various fields in both China and the United States, participated in the event to discuss the common challenges faced by Shanghai and New York and share common ideas on addressing related issues, promoting Sino-American cultural and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

Sha Hailin, President of the Shanghai Public Relations Association and Director of the Academic Committee of the Shanghai Institute for American Studies, presided over the meeting and delivered a speech. Wang Zhan, President of the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Circles and Chairman of the Shanghai Branch of the China International Economic Exchange Center, Zhu Min, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Commerce Commission, and Zheng Yi, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, each delivered keynote speeches. Sean Stein, Chairman of the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce in China and former United States Consul General in Shanghai, Mark Jaffe, President of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, Kong Xiangdong, piano artist, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and Vice Chairman of the China Special Art Association, Yao Ming, Chairman of FIBA Asia and Chairman of the China Basketball Association, Jeffrey S. Lehman, Executive Vice Chancellor and President (US side) of New York University Shanghai, Lester Chang, Member of the New York State Assembly, and other guests engaged in panel discussions focusing on economic and trade cooperation, cultural exchanges, and waterfront planning. Zhou Hanmin, Member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and President of the Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association, delivered the closing speech. Xu Bu, Senior Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General and Chairman of the Global Development and Security Institute at Jiangsu University, was invited to attend the meeting and delivered a concluding speech.

In his concluding speech, Director Xu Bu pointed out that China is currently the most important force promoting development and stability in the world. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee held recently emphasized that China will adhere to its fundamental national policy of opening up, promote reform through opening up, enhance its capacity for opening up in expanding international cooperation, and build a new system of a higher-level open economy. The world currently faces many uncertainties, the most notable of which is the ongoing U.S. presidential election. Regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, China and the United States should handle their relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, making their due contributions to the peaceful and stable development of the world and the Asia-Pacific region.

(Director Xu Bu’s Interview by the Media)