Last week, U.S. Commerce Deputy Secretary Bruce Andrews traveled to China to strengthen economic ties and deepen American engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, making stops in Dalian, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou.

Deputy Secretary Andrews began his trip in Dalian to participate in the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, as part of the World Economic Forum. He spoke on the panel titled “Enabling Innovation: Ingenuity is Not Enough” to discuss the changing business climate and its impact on incentivizing investment in critical scientific discoveries and other innovations which require longer term and different metrics for funding. Andrews highlighted that the flow of capital into high-growth startups is a vital component of economic growth and how the Commerce Department is laser-focused on creating the conditions to not only enable startups to thrive and grow, but to nourish the entire innovation ecosystem.

During the audience participation portion, the Deputy Secretary spoke about the factors that promote entrepreneurship and the importance of being able to take risks.  Moderated by Scientific American’s Mariette Di Christina, the panel also included Flemming Besenbacher, Chairman of the Supervisory Board from Denmark, Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, president of the European Research Council from Belgium, and Erin Chen, founder and director of Vitargent from China.

While in Dalian, Deputy Secretary Andrews held bilateral meetings with Liaoning Governor Chen Qiufa, Dalian Mayor Xiao Shengfeng, and Dalian Vice Mayor Liu Yan to emphasize the importance of positive collaboration to the bilateral relationship, and encourage Chinese investment in to the United States.

Andrews also delivered remarks at the U.S.-China Aviation Technology Symposium to show the Commerce Department’s support for deeper cooperation with local economic development efforts in the aviation sector.

He toured Intel’s facility in Dalian, where he saw an overview of manufacturing and learned from the executives about their ways of strengthening employee engagement and prioritizing corporate social responsibility.

After Dalian, Deputy Secretary Andrews traveled to Shenzhen, where he met with AIG China and toured col chain storage and supply chain operations that meet critical needs of U.S.-China trade. He also IBM’s Global Delivery Center which helps customers improve their efficiency and reduce costs by utilizing information technology solutions. IBM has recently focused on helping Chinese start-ups, and Andrews learned more about American companies and their work in assisting Chinese tech companies.

The Deputy Secretary’s last stop in China was Guangzhou where he delivered closing remarks at the “Experience America” event, hosted by the Bank of China Guangdong Branch. In his speech, he explained that education and tourism are two important service sectors for trade between the United States and China. In 2014, the Education and Tourism industries contributed a total of U.S. $28 billion and $1.6 trillion, respectively, to the U.S. economy. With this success, Andrews emphasized that the United States welcomes Chinese students and tourists to study in and visit our country, and it is important to create more opportunities for interaction between our nations, our communities, and our peoples. 

Economic engagement is a critical element and necessary constant in the U.S.-China relationship, and the Commerce Departments looks forward to the next U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) later this year to address bilateral trade issues and promote commercial opportunities between the United States and China.