Delegation of Senior Assistants of the U.S. Congress Visited and Exchanged with School of International Studies, Peking University

From 15:15 to 16:15 on December 9, 2014, the delegation of senior assistants of the U.S. Congress visited the School of International Studies and had exchanges with teachers and students in Room C105. This visit was organized by the National Committee on United States-China Relations (NCUSCR) and the Chinese reception team was the Institute of Foreign Affairs. Main members of the delegation included Directors of State Offices or Electorate Directors of the 12 members of Congress in states and municipalities. Most of them came to China for the first time. Professor Jia Qingguo, Dean of School of International Studies, Peking University and Director of Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding (formerly known as Institute for China-US People-to-People Exchange), presided over the seminar. Wang Dong, Lei Shaohua, and some undergraduates, master and doctoral students from the School of International Studies participated in the seminar.

Professor Jia Qingguo first extended his welcome to the guests and briefly introduced the School of International Studies and his opinion on China-US relations. He pointed out that China and the US have unlimited potential to cooperate in many fields. After that, teachers from the School of International Studies consulted the senior assistants about their views on the commitments made by Chinese and American leaders in coping with climate changes during the “Xi Jinping-Obama Meeting”, as well as factors during the actual works of various states and electorates impacting China-US relations. The US side and teachers and students of School of International Studies were engaged in heated discussions over topics such as the prospect of the fulfillment of commitments made by China and the US in coping with climate changes, necessity and limitations of exchanges between the youth of China and the U.S., Chinese education in the U.S. and possible areas for China-US cooperation.

This exchange deepens the understanding of the U.S. Congress Senior Assistants’ understanding of China and the China-U.S. relations, and is thus conducive to the stable development of China-U.S. relations. Finally, the U.S. side expressed its hope to maintain exchanges with the School of International Studies to jointly promote the development of China-US relations.