STORY: U.S. midwestern cities seek cooperation with China
SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 20, 2023
DATELINE: Nov. 29, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:26
LOCATION: CHICAGO, U.S.
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of councilwoman of Kansas City speaking to Xinhua
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): RYANA PARKS-SHAW, Councilwoman of Kansas City
3. various of Mayor of Edina, Minnesota Jim Hovland speaking to Xinhua
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): JIM HOVLAND, Mayor of Edina, Minnesota
5. various of Mayor of Elkhart Rod Roberson speaking to Xinhua
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): ROD ROBERSON, Mayor of Elkhart, Indiana
7. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): RYANA PARKS-SHAW, Councilwoman of Kansas City
8. SOUNDBITE 5 (English): JIM HOVLAND, Mayor of Edina, Minnesota
9. SOUNDBITE 6 (English): ROD ROBERSON, Mayor of Elkhart, Indiana
10. various of USHCA's official communications advisor Steve Grand speaking
11. SOUNDBITE 7 (English): STEVE GRAND, USHCA's official communications advisor

STORYLINE:

Mayor Pro Tem of Kansas City in the U.S. state of Missouri Ryana Parks-Shaw just came back from China after attending a sister city conference and visiting the Chinese cities of Xi'an, Yan'an and Shanghai.

"We have had two sister city agreements with China," Parks-Shaw told Xinhua on the sidelines of the 7th China General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC) - Chicago Annual Gala held recently in Chicago. Kansas City tied the sister city knot with Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, in 1989, and became a sister city with Yan'an, another city in Shaanxi, in 2017.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): RYANA PARKS-SHAW, Councilwoman of Kansas City
"We have two sister cities in China. I'm interested in making sure that the Kansas City and China relationship grows and fosters, because we have two sister cities in China, and so wanting to support the growth in relationship development."

This is the second time for Jim Hovland, mayor of Edina in U.S. state Minnesota, and Rod Robinson, mayor of Elkhart in U.S. state Indiana, to attend the CGCC-Chicago Annual Gala.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): JIM HOVLAND, Mayor of Edina, Minnesota
"I thought this was one more chance to build global friendships and build sort of that sub-national base of people that would be involved in making the world a little bit safer, a little bit more prosperous. Because of the nature of our two countries that (China-U.S. relationship) is particularly important in this overall world that we live in. I'm going home this time with the notion that we're not sending enough students to China."

Edina has a Chinese school that functions primarily in weekends. Hovland is considering having a full-time school teaching Chinese as an immersion.

Elkhart, a city 110 miles east of Chicago in the U.S. midwestern state of Indiana, is known for its recreational vehicle manufacturing, as well as being the "musical instrument capital" of the United States.

Elkhart means the quality of place and quality of life.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): ROD ROBERSON, Mayor of Elkhart, Indiana
"What we're doing there is that we are creating a relationship around music and arts that we want to evolve as a part of our community. We believe that we have a very fertile area to attract the talents and skills."

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): RYANA PARKS-SHAW, Councilwoman of Kansas City
"I'm very optimistic about China-U.S. relationship, especially after my visit to China, definitely I'm excited about the potential opportunities for people-to-people exchanges so we can continue to strengthen the friendship with China."

SOUNDBITE 5 (English): JIM HOVLAND, Mayor of Edina, Minnesota
"It's a very big world out there, and there's plenty of room for two prosperous countries to compete with each other on a friendly basis. I personally believe that, I don't like the animosity building at the geopolitical, at national level that's occurring. I think it's not healthy for anybody. I like the opportunities that present themselves. These two great countries have obligations not only to themselves and each other, but to the rest of the world."

Roberson is also optimistic about the China-U.S. relationship.

SOUNDBITE 6 (English): ROD ROBERSON, Mayor of Elkhart, Indiana
"That's the relationship that's going to drive our governmental officials, whether they're state or federal, to create the kind of policies that are demanded by the people that live in these local communities. We all want to be able to have a relationship with one another."

The U.S. Heartland China Association (USHCA) organized a bipartisan delegation of six U.S. mayors representing communities along the Mississippi River Basin to visit their counterparts in China in November this year.

The six mayors from the U.S. Heartland visited five Chinese cities in 10 days to put bilateral cooperative frameworks into action at the local level, and kick off two-way exchanges as part of the USHCA's Yangtze-Mississippi Municipality Energy Transition Exchange project.

Steve Grand, USHCA's official communications advisor, made a film about the trip of the six mayors. He shared his experience of the trip at the CGCC-Chicago Annual Gala.

SOUNDBITE 7 (English): STEVE GRAND, USHCA's official communications advisor
"As a filmmaker through the lens, I saw smiles and laughter and people nodding yes instead of saying no. It was a really compelling trip. And when in the film we ended the film with this quote from Henry Ford -- Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. Our trip earlier this month was a beginning to the end of keeping together for progress and working together for success."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Chicago, U.S.
(XHTV)