The China Enterprise Council (CEC) held its annual conference and a seminar on US-China Provinces Economic and Trade Cooperation on Monday in Los Angeles, with the Chinese Vice-minister of Commerce Wang Chao delivering the keynote address.

"I'm so glad to be coming back here after three years," said Wang, who participated in the CEC annual conference in 2010 and has witnessed the growing bilateral connection over the years.

China and the US are number two trading partners to each other with a $500 billion trade value. The US has $70 billion invested in China, and China has $20 billion investment in the US, Wang said.

Chinese consumers love California wine, fruit, nuts and movies, the vice-minister said. China's big market and California's high quality products make them excellent partners to grow hand-in-hand.

Wang said the Chinese government encourages more and more China investors to go overseas. Around $500 billion in investment is expected to go out of China in the next five years. In the same period, China is expected to import $10 trillion in products and send 5 million tourists out into the world.

In his speech, Los Angeles' new mayor Eric Garcetti said China is LA's number one trading partner. In the last 12 years, trade with China has grown from $43.44 billion to $159.45 billion. The Los Angeles region and China have an important relationship and long history. The contributions of Chinese Americans and Chinese entrepreneurs and investors have benefited Los Angeles.

Garcetti pointed out that Los Angeles is the largest manufacturing center in the US. Clean tech, movie production and education are among the many areas with great potential to expand cooperation with China, he said. Three out of the top 25 universities in the US are in Los Angeles. And two of them - the University of Southern California and the University of California at Los Angeles - have the most international students from China.

Leading the Inner Mongolia delegation to Los Angeles, Bu Xiaolin, vice-chairman of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, recalled the show Dance of Matouqin and Hollywood that toured California two years ago.

Besides arts, cooperation between the Inner Mongolian University of Technology and campuses of the University of California were expanding among the younger generations, he said.

Eight enterprises from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, such as Yongye International Investment Group and Baotou Dongbao Biotechnology Inc, participated in the signing ceremony between the region and California.

Wang said in his remarks that US-China bilateral economic and trade cooperation has not always been smooth sailing. But he encouraged both sides to address the concerns of each other and bring the relationship up to a new level.

"It's an irreversible journey," he said. "Courage and confidence will lead us to new success."

wangjun@chinadailyusa.com