2015 Xi Jinping visit to the United States
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The 2015 state visit of Xi Jinping to the United States, which was from September 22 to 28, 2015, was the
state visit A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...
of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
's
paramount leader Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often hol ...
Xi Jinping to the United States. It was his seventh visit to the United States and his first visit after succeeding the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012. During his visit, Xi attended the US–China Internet Industry Forum, met US President Barack Obama and attended the 70th anniversary of the United Nations.


Background

Xi's visit occurred at a time of high tensions in the bilateral relationship. The Wall Street Journal quoted experts who said Xi's US visit was to promote domestic technology companies and to ask the US government to not retaliate in response to accusations that his country had engaged in hacking activities. Before Xi's visit, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China held a hearing on human rights. Experts and members of Congress in attendance called on President Obama to ask Xi Jinping to stop the persecution of Tibetans, Uyghurs, religious groups,
non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
, intellectuals, democracy advocates, and supporters of "universal suffrage" in Hong Kong. Prior to the 2015 visit, Xi had visited the United States six times. His first visit was as part of a corn industry delegation to the state of Iowa in 1985.


Process


September 22: Arrival at Seattle and Speech Giving

On September 22, 2015, Xi Jinping, and his wife, Peng Liyuan, arrived at Paine Field and stepped off an
Air China Air China Limited () is the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China and one of the "Big Three" mainland Chinese airlines (alongside China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines). Air China's headquarters are in Shunyi District, ...
aircraft at about 9:30 am (Pacific Daylight Time). Before his arrival at the Westin Seattle Hotel, protesters gathered downtown to highlight the Chinese government's human rights abuses and to voice other concerns, including Falun Gong practitioners. Supporters of Xi were also present with Chinese flags. Both protesters and supporters dispersed by the end of the night. In the evening, Xi attended a banquet speech at the Westin Seattle Hotel where he met with Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Mayor of Seattle Ed Murray, Senator Patty Murray, Congressman Rick Larsen, and former Ambassador to China
Gary Locke Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician and diplomat serving as the interim president of Bellevue College, the largest of the institutions that make up the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system. Locke serv ...
. In his speech, he touched on several sensitive topics, including cybersecurity, currency devaluation and his country's economy. Xi's speech cited elements of American culture, included '' Sleepless in Seattle'' and the poet Walt Whitman. He also talked about his teenage years working on a farm in
Yanchuan County Yanchuan County () is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Yan'an, in the northeast of Shaanxi Province, bordering Shanxi Province across the Yellow River to the east. The county spans in area, and has a permanent po ...
, Shaanxi, China, during the Cultural Revolution and linked this to the Chinese Dream. Xi reiterated that China was against currency wars and would not lower the
renminbi The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...
rate to boost exports. On the topic of his anti-corruption reforms, Xi said, "It has nothing to do with a power struggle. In this case, there's no '' House of Cards''" – a reference to the Netflix political drama, which tops the list of most illegally downloaded shows in China.


September 23: Visiting and meeting business executives in Seattle

On the second day of his trip, Xi visited Boeing Everett Factory and viewed the final assembly lines for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing 777 and Boeing 747-8. Xi announced that China would buy 300 Boeing aircraft, included 250 single-aisle Boeing 737s and 50 widebody jets for US$38 billion. He also announced that Boeing would build its first non-US factory in
Zhoushan Zhoushan , formerly romanized as Chusan, is an urbanized archipelago with the administrative status of a prefecture-level city in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. It consists of an archipelago of islands at the southern mouth of H ...
, Zhejiang, China. The Chinese company
Inspur Inspur, whose full name is Inspur Group (Chinese: 浪潮集团; pinyin: Làngcháo Jítuán), is an information technology conglomerate in mainland China focusing on cloud computing, big data, key application hosts, servers, storage, artificia ...
and Cisco Systems said they would jointly sell networking technologies and products in China. After his Boeing visit, Xi attended an Internet industry forum held at the headquarters of Microsoft, located in Redmond. He said China would prioritize Internet security and defended self-governance at the country level with respect to Internet regulations. Thirty US and Chinese technology executives attended this forum and posed for a photo with Xi and Chief of the State Internet Information Office Lu Wei, including Apple's CEO Tim Cook, Amazon.com's CEO Jeff Bezos,
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's CEO Jack Ma, and Microsoft's CEO
Satya Nadella Satya Narayana Nadella (, ; born 19 August 1967) is an Indian-American business executive. He is the executive chairman and CEO of Microsoft, succeeding Steve Ballmer in 2014 as CEO and John W. Thompson in 2021 as chairman. Before becoming CE ...
. Before the photograph, Facebook Chief Executive
Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...
spoke to Xi in Mandarin. On September 21, '' The Washington Post'' reported that technology executives were recommended to attend this forum, or risk their companies facing greater regulatory scrutiny in China. After visiting Microsoft, he met with
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and Melinda Gates as well as senior executives and board members of the company. He previewed new technologies in development by Microsoft. Nadella gifted him a
3D printed 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...
model of the ''Liulinhai'', the first Chinese ship to dock in the United States, in Seattle, in 1979 after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the US and the People's Republic of China. In the afternoon, Xi Jinping visited Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington. Lincoln's football players presented Xi with a Lincoln Abes jersey emblazoned with the number "1". Xi reciprocated with gifts of books and ping-pong equipment. He also invited 100 Lincoln High students to visit China in 2016. During this visit, the adherents of Falun Gong and Vietnamese protesters held up signs such as "Stop Red China's Violations" and shouted slogans such as "Down with Red China". Xi attended a forum hosted by the Paulson Foundation, an economic think tank founded by
Henry Paulson Henry Merritt Paulson Jr. (born March 28, 1946) is an American banker and financier who served as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 2006 to 2009. Prior to his role in the Department of the Treasury, Paulson was the Chairman a ...
. He also attended a dinner organized by local Chinese groups.


September 24: Arrival at Washington D.C.

Xi and Peng left Seattle and flew to Washington, D.C., on September 24. They arrived at
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and were greeted by United States Vice President Joe Biden. After the greeting, a band played the national anthems of both countries. Xi then made his way to Blair House where he and President Obama shared a private working dinner at.


September 25: Meeting US President Barack Obama and State Dinner

On September 25, Xi Jinping arrived at the White House. President Barack Obama welcomed Xi's visit. After the welcoming ceremony, both men discussed a range of issues related to peacekeeping, nuclear security, health, environment, cybersecurity, law enforcement and counterterrorism. Xi said that China would develop a "national carbon emissions trading market" in 2017, as a part of climate change statement. Later they held a news conference at Rose Garden. Obama and Xi reached a "common understanding" that neither the United States nor China should engage in state-sponsored cyberintrusions, and they would together seek the rules for appropriate conduct in cyberspace. In the evening, Obama held a state dinner for Xi Jinping. It was Obama's second state dinner for a Chinese President. The White House invited
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, an Asian-American chef, to serve as a guest chef and to design the menu with Chinese elements. This state dinner's guests included
Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...
, Tim Cook and Larry Ellison, as well as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Obama said “Just as you say in China that a sea accepts a hundred rivers, our countries together are stronger when we accept the diversity of the views and the contributions and uphold the rights of all our people.” Xi responded by calling for a new chapter in relations between the two nations.


September 26: UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York

On September 26, Xi Jinping flew to New York City and attended the UN Sustainable Development Summit at the Headquarters of the United Nations. In his speech, he said "the world would seek an equitable, open, comprehensive and innovation-driven development path in an effort to achieve common development of all countries after 2015". He announced the establishment of a South–South cooperation assistance fund where China would contribute US$2 billion to encourage developing countries to undertake the post-2015 development agenda. In addition, Xi floated major initiatives such as the
BRICS Development Bank The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). According to the Agreement on the NDB, " ...
, the
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank that aims to improve economic and social outcomes in Asia. The bank currently has 105 members, including 14 prospective members from around the world. The br ...
, and the Silk Road Fund.


September 27: Global Women's Summit and Environmental issues

On September 27, Xi Jinping and United Nations Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
co-hosted the "2015 Global Women's Summit". In his speech, Xi said, "As the Chinese people pursue a happy life, all Chinese women have the opportunity to excel in life and make their dreams come true". He also announced China would contribute US$10 million to the UN Women initiative. However, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized his attendance, pointing to the state of women's rights in China. Peng Liyuan attended UNESCO's Special Envoy for the Advancement of Girls' and Women's Education where she said her dream was for "all children especially girls can have access to good education." Xi also attended the Leaders Working Lunch on Climate Change of the UN. He said China would control greenhouse gas emissions and put "China's South–South Cooperation Fund on Climate Change" into operation.


September 28: Speech at UN General Assembly

Xi gave a speech at the General Debate of the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. He mentioned the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day of the Second World War in China. Xi also said all economies should be built on an eco-environment, and green, low-carbon circular sustainable development platform. He also pledged US$100 million, over a period of five years, to the
African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
.


See also

*
China–United States relations The relationship between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the United States of America (USA) has been complex since 1949 with mutual distrust leading to complications. The relationship is one of close economic ties (economic ties grew ...
* Foreign relations of China * Foreign relations of the United States


References


External links

{{Xi Jinping Xi Jinping visit to the United States Xi Jinping visit to the United States Xi Jinping visit to the United States Xi Jinping visit to the United States Xi Jinping visit to the United States Xi Jinping visit to the United States China–United States relations History of the foreign relations of the United States Articles containing video clips Xi Jinping Xi Jinping visits