On September 22 local time, President Xi Jinping held a group meeting in Seattle with personages including Governor of Washington State Jay Inslee, Mayor of Seattle Ed Murray, Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Rick Larsen from Washington State and former US Ambassador to China Gary Faye Locke.

Xi Jinping stressed that China and the US are two important countries in the world. President Barack Obama and I met at Annenberg Estate in 2013 and reached important consensus on jointly constructing the new model of major-country relationship between both countries. To realize non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation between the two countries benefits not only themselves but also peace and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large. Common problems facing the two countries should be resolved together to ensure a better world with faster development. During his state visit to the US, he is looking forward to, together with President Barack Obama and people from various circles of the US, discussing major plan for developing bilateral relations and blueprinting bilateral cooperation thus inject new impetus into the development of bilateral relations.

Xi Jinping pointed out that Washington State and Seattle are gateways of the US to China and Asia and thus are tightly bound to China, and in recent years, economic, trade and people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two sides are becoming increasingly close and bilateral cooperation is yielding fruitful results. With the arrival of the Chinese cargo ship "Liu Lin Hai"at the port of Seattle just less than four months after the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, shipping services between both countries resumed after a decades-long suspension. Today, Washington State has ranked first among all US states in export to China for 3 consecutive years. Following the devastating earthquake that struck China's Wenchuan in 2008, elementary school students in Pierce County of Washington State sent more than 800consolation letters and blessing cards to teenagers in the quake-affected area, encouraging them to face life with a strong will, which was moving and unforgettable. We can see hope for the future China-US relations from the mutual understanding and friendship between our younger generations.

Xi Jinping emphasized that in the next phase, both countries should join efforts to speed up cooperation between China and Washington State and Seattle respectively. Both countries should also stick to the guiding role of the governments, expand cooperation and enrich people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and provide more support and convenience for bilateral enterprises to develop mutually beneficial cooperation in such areas as manufacturing, bio-technology and environmental protection, so as to realize common development.

Governor Jay Inslee, Mayor Ed Murray, Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Rick Larsen from Washington State, and other US personages said that they are honored to welcome President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington State and Seattle. In fact, all the 50 US states are looking forward to President Xi Jinping's visit. The friendly relations between Washington State and China enjoy a time-honored history and their mutually beneficial cooperation in such sectors as economy, trade, people-to-people and cultural engagement, science, technology and clean energy is continuously expanding. Washington State and Seattle are willing to continuously play a positive driving role in the development of US-China relations. Maintaining a stable development of US-China relations will benefit not only the two peoples but also stability and prosperity of the world.

Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu, Yang Jiechi and others attended the meeting.