Yuan in meeting with Earl Ray Tomblin, West Virginia's governor

A delegation from Shanxi province, led by Yuan Chunqing, the Party secretary, began a four-day visit to the states of Hawaii and West Virginia, in the United States, on May 28, to discuss technology, innovation, urban construction, energy, energy conservation, and environmental protection with local officials and to sign a memorandum of understanding with both. They also met with the governors of Hawaii and West Virginia.

Shanxi has in fact had good economic, cultural and tourist relations with Hawaii since 2011 and during this visit, Yuan said he hopes Shanxi can learn from the state's tourism experience and increase cooperation in other areas. Neil Abercrombie, the governor, responded to Yuan's comments by saying he will continue to follow Shanxi’s development and promote cooperation and communications.

West Virginia has an industrial structure that is similar to Shanxi's, with an annual coal production that is second in the US, so, the two had some fairly good cooperation in the energy field. But, Yuan explained, Shanxi still has a long way to go in developing clean coal technology and environmental protection and can learn a lot from West Virginia.

The delegation also visited West Virginia University, which is known for its engineering science, and a US shale gas company, to learn about energy exploitation technology and carbon dioxide collection and storage.

Edited by Zhou Yuanyuan and Roger Bradshaw