China-California business forum held in Los Angeles

The China-California Business Forum was held in Los Angeles on Monday, attracting nearly 500 participants from China and the U.S., including officials and businesspeople to jointly promote the local economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between Chinese provinces and California - the largest state in the U.S. in terms of population and economy, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Addressing the event, Chinese Consul General in Los Angeles Guo Shaochun said the forum serves as a vital platform for both sides to strengthen communications and expand business opportunities, according to the Xinhua report.

It will inject confidence and momentum in sparking the vitality of local-level cooperation between China and the U.S., while promoting the stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations, Guo said, adding that the economic and trade relations between China and the U.S. are mutually beneficial and win-win in nature while strengthening cooperation across all sectors serves the fundamental interests of both sides.

Dilpreet Sidhu, deputy mayor of Los Angeles, outlined in her keynote speech Los Angeles' collaboration with China across trade, tourism, climate change, education, and sports sectors, emphasizing the strategic importance of these partnerships. She reaffirmed Los Angeles's commitment to deepening long-term cooperative relations with China, according to Xinhua.

Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency Toks Omishakin highlighted the potential for California-China collaboration in climate action, noting that the two sides could strengthen cooperation in aspects including green transportation and joint development of new technologies.

East China's Fujian Province, the forum's guest province this year, has achieved fruitful cooperation outcomes with California in recent years. During the forum, both sides signed a series of collaborative projects. 

In his keynote speech, Wang Jinfu, vice governor of Fujian, called on both sides to strengthen economic and trade synergy, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, enhance technological cooperation, jointly promote green and low-carbon development, deepen cultural interactions, and boost closer people-to-people connectivity, according to the Xinhua report.