U.S. Heartland Mayors Bridge the Mississippi and Yangtze communities with Historic China Visit

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In the first such visit since the pandemic; the U.S. Heartland China Association (USHCA) led a bipartisan delegation of six U.S. mayors representing communities along the Mississippi River Basin to visit their counterparts in the People's Republic of China. This Mayors' delegation visit took place in the context of recent visits by Senator Chuck Schumer and a bi-partisan delegation of six U.S. Senators, California Governor Gavin Newsom's recent trip to China, and the meeting in San Francisco between President Biden and President Xi. Like these national leaders, the mayors went to China to underscore the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the United States and China.

The delegation included Mayor Jim Brainard of Carmel, Indiana; Mayor Barbara Buffaloe of Columbia, Missouri; Mayor Lee Harris of Shelby County, Tennessee; Mayor Chokwe Lumumba of Jackson, Mississippi; Mayor Kim Norton of Rochester, Minnesota; and Mayor Robyn Tannehill of Oxford, Mississippi. These leaders were selected for this sponsored trip based on their demonstrated thought leadership to represent municipalities of different sizes from the Mississippi River Basin in America's Heartland. Two science advisors and one expert: Dr. Gabriel M. Filippelli and Dr. Lixin Wang from Indiana University, and Edmund Downie from Princeton University, provided support that ensured successful bilateral engagements.

Over a ten-day period, just as the U.S.-China bilateral working group under the leadership of U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua strived to complete the Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis in California, the Heartland mayors delegation visited five Chinese communities to put the bilateral cooperative framework into action at the local level. (Read about the full itinerary of this delegation)

This visit kicked off a historic two-way exchange as part of USHCA's Yangtze-Mississippi Municipality Energy Transition Exchange project.  This project aims to promote city-to-city best practice sharing between the communities along these two major rivers around energy transition, climate mitigation, and green economy.  

"Collaboration between U.S. and Chinese Mayors not only benefits the hundreds of millions of people living in our two countries, but the on-going joint work will lead to best practices that can be applied around the world."

- Mayor Jim Brainard
Carmel, Indiana
USHCA Board co-chair & delegation leader

The mayors returned home equipped with new ideas for promoting economic growth and sustainable development in their respective communities as well as newfound, collaborative relationships they plan to continue with dozens of Chinese counterparts.

"USHCA is pleased to support open lines of communication with the People's Republic of China through pragmatic sub-national dialogues around shared challenges," remarked Min Fan, USHCA Executive Director who oversaw the organization of this historic delegation. "We wish to thank the Ford Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Energy Foundation China for their support that made this delegation possible and the National Committee for U.S.-China Relations for sharing its expertise in leading delegations to China."

In partnership with the six mayors, USHCA plans to host a reciprocal delegation of Chinese city leaders in Fall 2024, convening the next Yangtze-Mississippi Forum in the American Heartland. The next Yangtze-Mississippi Forum will continue the dialogue and best practice sharing between the two river basin communities to find innovative solutions to shared challenges our communities face.

SOURCE United States Heartland China Association