Oregon governor signs legislation supporting further economic ties with China

SALEM, the United States — US Oregon State Governor Kate Brown signed a resolution on Wednesday to advance economic and trade ties with China.

While non-binding itself, the resolution makes Oregon the first US state that encourages continued collaboration with China for trade and economic development.

Brown presented the document to Ren Faqiang, Chinese deputy Consul General to San Francisco, right after reading and signing the document in Salem, the state's capital.

The measure, known as House Current Resolution 39, was passed recently in unanimous vote by both House and Senate of the state Legislative Assembly.

The unanimously approved resolution shows the importance attached by both the government and legislature of Oregon State to economic and trade cooperation between Oregon and China, said Ren.

The resolution states that China is now Oregon's biggest trader partner, over 20,000 jobs in Oregon benefit from trade with China, and China is Oregon's No 1 source of international visitors with more than 60,000 Chinese citizens visiting the state each year.

The US west coast state benefits a lot from its exports to China, with products ranging from computers, agricultural goods, and chemicals.

Oregon has a trade surplus of $3.7 billion with China in 2016, according to the US Department of Commerce. It is among one of eight US states to have a trade surplus with the Asian giant.