On March 12, Consul General Xu Erwen hosted a reception at her residence for Mr. Bill Archer, former US congressman and Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, on occasion of Archer's 84th birthday. The reception, in recognition of Archer's historical contribution to China-U.S. relations and China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation in particular, was attended by more than 100 guests, including US Congressman Al Green, Houston City Council Member Jack Christie and Oliver Pennington, former Houston City Council Member Anne Clutterbuck, celebrities from the local business, legal, education and culture communities as well as major Chinese entrepreneurs in the Southern US. Congressmen Kevin Brady and Pete Olson also sent representatives to the reception. Deputy Consul General Xie Yunliang and Zhang Chuanbing, along with other diplomats from the Consulate General, also joined the reception, with Xie serving as the MC.

Consul General Xu, together with all the guests, wished Chairman Archer a very happy birthday. Consul General Xu commended Archer for his historical contribution to China-US economic and trade relations, especially his leadership role in pushing through the China-US PNTR (Permanent Normal Trade Relations) around the year 2000. Consul General Xu said, PNTR leveled the field for a full development of the trade potential between the two countries. The decade after PNTR was a decade of rapid growth of China-US trade, with the two-way trade growing from US$61.5 billion in 1999 to US$446.6 billion in 2011. US export to China grew by 468%, with 47 out of the 50 US states seeing their exports to China grow several or even dozens of times. The two countries have long become each other's second largest trading partners, and China has become the largest export market for American agricultural products, with the US exporting US$23.3 billion worth of agricultural products to China in 2011.

Consul General Xu added that, trade between the two countries has brought many benefits to both sides. With the overlapping of common interests, both countries are winners in trading with each other. US trade with China helped promote US economic growth and create more job opportunities. It also helped bring down consumer expenses and inflation. What's more, the economic and trade cooperation is conducive to the healthy and stable development of the overall relations between China and the US. In the years to come, the two countries are facing important new opportunities to further develop their economic ties. Consul General Xu said she is confident that the two countries, when working jointly together, can achieve a lot, both in economic tie strengthening and overall partnership building.

Chairman Archer expressed his sincere thanks to Consul General Xu for her hospitality and thoughtful arrangements. He congratulated Consul General Xu on her assumption of duty as the Chinese Consul General in his hometown of Houston. He delightfully recalled his visits to China and meetings with the Chinese leaders during the 1990s as well as his experiences in pushing through US-China PNTR. He stressed that economic and trade relations between the two countries helped promote better understanding and better trust, and that China-US trade is beneficial to both sides. Archer also said that pushing through PNTR in the 1990s needs vision and a lot of courage. It is proven that, China and the US can get along very well and that China-US cooperation is beneficial not only to the two countries and their peoples, but also to the world at large.

Congressman Al Green praised Chinese people's virtue of not forgetting the old friends. He wished further development of China-US further economic and trade relations and stronger China-US friendship.