Vice Minister Yu Kangzhen met with Mr. William Asa Hutchinson, Governor of Arkansas of the United States of America (USA), in Beijing on Oct. 20, 2016. The two sides exchanged views on strengthening agricultural cooperation between China and the USA especially Arkansas.
Vice Minister Yu said that Arkansas is a key agricultural state of the USA and the biggest rice and poultry producer across the country. China is willing to work with Arkansas to boost the practical cooperation and enrich China-USA partnership in agriculture. Vice Minister Yu put forward the following suggestions for future cooperation:
(1)Jointly designing cooperation projects upon the priorities identified in the China-U.S. Plan of Strategic Cooperation in Agriculture;
(2)Deepening economic and trade cooperation in agriculture by bond of province/state sisterhood;
(3) Creating conditions to facilitate the two-way investment in agriculture;
(4) Maintaining the sound momentum of China-USA communication in the long-term interests and sending positive signals to the agricultural communities and the public.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson noted that Arkansas attaches great importance to the agricultural cooperation with China and expressed the willingness to further increase mutually-beneficial cooperation in agricultural trade and investment. Gov. Asa Hutchinson agreed with Vice Minister Yu on his comments and suggestions for future cooperation, expressing that Arkansas stands ready to work with China for further advancement in the bilateral agricultural cooperation.