SR0282 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0282 LRB101 11758 ALS 58481 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, On January 1, 1979, the United States and People's Republic of China (China) officially established diplomatic relations, and 2019 marked the 40th anniversary of United States-China relations; and

WHEREAS, Since the Empress of China, a United States ship, sailed to China over 230 years ago, trade and exchanges between the two countries have continued to flourish, transforming the world in the process; and

WHEREAS, Over the past four decades, exchanges and cooperation between the two countries have scored historic achievements; forty years ago, only several thousand visits were made between the two countries each year; in 2017, over 5.3 million visits were made between the two sides; forty years ago, the bilateral trade volume was less than $2.5 billion; in 2017, it surpassed $580 billion; forty years ago, the two-way investment between China and the United States was almost zero; in 2017, two-way investment in various forms amounted to over $230 billion in accumulative terms; and

WHEREAS, The entire region and the world have benefited enormously from the ties between the United States and China; from advancing the proper settlement of regional hot-spot issues to fighting international terrorism, tackling the global financial crisis, and promoting global growth, China and the United States have conducted extensive cooperation at bilateral, regional, and global levels; and

WHEREAS, The steady growth of the relations between China and the United States is indispensable to the success of the two countries and the world, and it would be irresponsible and detrimental for us to "decouple" or become isolated from each other; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has been dedicated to developing cooperative relations with China for decades, and China remains the second largest trading partner and third largest export market for the State; since 2000, Chinese companies have invested over $4.2 billion in Illinois and supported more than 5,100 jobs; over 18,000 Chinese students pursue their studies in Illinois universities; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare January 1, 2019 United States of America and China Diplomacy Day in the State of Illinois in honor of the 40-year anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China, and we support continued diplomatic, economic, and people-to-people cooperation between the State of Illinois and China.