China and Pittsburgh strengthen ties

William Peduto, mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, greets visiting Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Yandong on Friday morning when Liu arrives at the Pittsburgh city hall for a visit. Liu is in the US for the 6th China-US High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange, which will officially kick off by Liu and US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington on June 23. [Photo by Chen Weihua / China Daily]

Visiting Vice-Premier Liu Yandong told Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto on Friday that maintaining a healthy and stable development of China-US relations serves the common interests of both countries, the world's largest developing and developed nations.

“It will also make contributions to world peace,” said Liu, who attended a series of events in Pittsburgh on Friday ahead of the sixth session of the China-US High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE), which will be kicked off in Washington on June 23 by Liu and US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Liu told Peduto that she and Kerry will explore how to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries in education, science and technology, culture, public health, women and youth, in order to lay a solid foundation among people in both countries for a new type of major country relationship.

The meeting at city hall included a broad discussion, according to a press release from Peduto's office. He told Liu about Pittsburgh's industrial heritage and how it affected the environment, as well as the region's transformation and emergence as a hub for healthcare, educational institutions and high tech.

The two also talked about Pittsburgh's sister-city relationship with Wuhan and Peduto's visit to China in September, and the collaborative educational relationship between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University and some of their Chinese counterparts.