Governor Brown Meets with Shanghai's Party Secretary

Press Release

On the fourth full day of California's trade and investment mission to China, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. met with Shanghai's top government official, Party Secretary Han Zheng.

The two leaders discussed ways California -- America's most populous state -- and Shanghai -- China's most populous city -- can expand their partnership.

"We, in California, are looking forward to even more contact with China and Shanghai, in particular," said Governor Brown in the meeting with Shanghai's Party Secretary. "We feel the dynamism, the zest for building and creating is so impressive that we would like to be one of the beneficiaries of that with trade, investment and the exchange of our citizens and our scholars."

On Friday in Shanghai, Governor Brown opened the California-China Office of Trade and Investment -- the state's first foreign trade office in a decade -- and spoke at Visit California's news conference.

This followed a number of events in Beijing earlier this week, including remarks at Tsinghua University, meetings with China's Premier, Minister of Commerce, Minister of Environmental Protection, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, a forum with the American Chamber of Commerce -- Beijing and a reception at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing with the U.S. Ambassador to China.

Governor Brown will travel to Nanjing on Sunday, where he will meet with senior government officials and sign an agreement with California's sister province, Jiangsu.

In addition to stops in Beijing and Shanghai, the trade and investment mission will include events in Nanjing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen through Tuesday, April 16th.

Joining the Governor on the trade and investment mission is a delegation organized by the Bay Area Council that includes approximately 90 business, economic development, investment and policy leaders from throughout California. Senior administration officials are also accompanying the delegation.

The Governor's trade and investment mission follows more than a year of significant diplomatic and business exchanges between the State of California and China. In February 2012, Governor Brown welcomed His Excellency Xi Jinping, then-Vice President, and now President of China, to California. During the visit, Governor Brown announced his intention to visit China, open a trade and investment office and form a China-California Joint Task Force to drive more collaboration, investment and trade between California and China. Later in 2012, the Brown administration convened the inaugural Joint Economic Committee between California and China's Jiangsu Province, hosted a Chinese delegation led by the Vice Minister of China's Ministry of Commerce and met with a Chinese delegation led by Deputy Governor Xia Geng of China's Shandong Province.

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