Readout from Mayor Johnson's meeting with Qin Gang, Ambassador of China to the United States

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Office of the Mayor, Eric Johnson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 31, 2022

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Tristan Hallman
Chief of Policy and Communications
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Readout from Mayor Johnson's meeting with Qin Gang, Ambassador of China to the United States

DALLAS — Mayor Eric Johnson on Monday met with His Excellency Qin Gang, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the United States, at Dallas City Hall. The following is a readout of the meeting:

Mayor Johnson greeted Ambassador Qin in the ceremonial Flag Room at Dallas City Hall, and the two discussed the architecture of I.M. Pei-designed building. Mayor Johnson then officially opened the meeting by welcoming the ambassador and his team to Dallas. The mayor expressed his appreciation for Ambassador Qin choosing to visit Dallas on his Texas tour (other planned stops include Austin and Houston). The mayor mentioned that China is already the Dallas region’s largest trading partner, but he also said he would like to see Dallas increase its exports to China.

Mayor Johnson discussed the city’s economic dynamism, saying Dallas has a diverse economy and a strong business climate that is primed for more investment. The mayor also discussed his intentions to improve basic services and public safety in Dallas.

Ambassador Qin said he was impressed with the economic growth, diversity, and strength of the City of Dallas and appreciated the warmth and hospitality of the city’s people. The Ambassador said he believed in the need to establish and expand people-to-people exchanges, including exchanges of students. He said he was optimistic that such exchanges will increase in the future and added that tourism has a strong chance of quickly growing back to pre-pandemic levels.

The two discussed Mayor Johnson’s trip to China while he was a state representative in 2016. Ambassador Qin discussed his interest in sub-national cooperation between cities in China and the United States, including Dallas. Ambassador Qin said his hometown is Tianjin, China, which is located about 30 minutes from Beijing via high-speed train. Tianjin has a historically close Friendship City relationship with Dallas that started in the 1990s but has not been active in recent years. The mayor and ambassador agreed that their respective staffs would explore the renewal and revitalization of this city-to-city relationship.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Mayor Johnson asked Ambassador Qin to sign his official guest book and gave the ambassador a Dallas gift box and a book about Dallas. The ambassador in turn gave Mayor Johnson a box of tea from Yunnan Province.

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