On June 29, July 2 and July 3, 2018, Consul General Hong Lei met with Congressman Brad Schneider representing Illinois’s 10th congressional district, Congressman Randy Hultgren representing Illinois’s 14th congressional district, an and Congressman Peter Roskam representing Illinois’s 6th congressional district.

Consul General Hong Lei said that in the last 40 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, the relations between the two countries have developed constantly to great fruition. In the same vein, cooperation between China and Illinois has developed rapidly. Currently, China is Illinois’s second largest trading partner and its third largest export market. Illinois-based multinational corporations have developed very well in China, and China has become an important strategic market for these companies. Many Chinese companies have also invested in Illinois, with a total of 4.2 billion US dollars in the last 17 years, creating more than 5,100 jobs for local communities. At present, there are 18,000 Chinese students studying in Illinois. The friendship of the younger generation will help us deepen understanding of each other. Consul General Hong Lei added that the cooperation between China and Illinois is a stellar example of China-US cooperation and the extensive common interests shared by China and the United States.

Consul General Hong Lei said that despite China’s tremendous development achievements in the past few decades, China is still the largest developing country in the world. Our primary and long-term task is to continuously improve Chinese people’s living standard. China has neither the intention to challenge the global status of the United States nor the desire to manage China-US relations through confrontation. China is a beneficiary and a builder of the existing international system. We firmly uphold the international order and the international system with the United Nations at its core, rather than seeking to start a new one. Currently, China-US economic and trade relations have reached a critical juncture. China-US cooperation serves the interests of both nations, and China-US confrontation inflicts harm on both sides. Unilateral sanctions and trade war are not the right way to resolv China-US economic and trade disputes. China has consistently advocated the resolution of trade disputes through consultation, dialogue and the expansion of consensus. I hope that members of Congress can put China's strategic intentions, China-US economic and trade relations in perspective, and help enhance mutual respect between China and the United States, promote win-win cooperation as well as the settlement of relevant differences.

Congressman Schneider said that the common interests shared by the United States and China are greater than their differences. The development of US-China relations will help the United States and China to advance their own development. The prosperity of China and the world is in line with the global interests of the United States. The United States and China should continue to maintain contact and dialogue at all levels, strengthen communication, exchanges and mutual respect. He added that trade policy should be mutually beneficial so as to improve economic growth and people's lives.

Congressman Hultgren said that the development of US-China relations has greatly benefited Illinois’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors. There are many opportunities for the development of US-China ties, and we must ensure that such opportunities for cooperation continue to expand.

Congressman Roskam said that he first visited China in 1985, and has been to China in recent years. China has undergone tremendous changes, making significant achievements in poverty reduction over the past few decades. US and Chinese economies are highly complementary. Mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries will create enormous wealth for both sides. There are strong agriculture and manufacturing industries in Illinois’s 6th congressional district, and many of them have benefited from international trade. The United States has benefited greatly from trade with other countries, including China.