CHICAGO, March 8 (Xinhua) -- More than 20 representatives of U.S. enterprises and business institutions attended here on Thursday an agriculture roadshow from China's eastern coastal Shandong Province.
China and the United States are major agricultural countries, and "agriculture is one of the first and the most productive and promising areas for China-U.S. cooperation," Chinese Consul General in Chicago Zhao Jian said at the event.
Shandong is one of China's major economically developed provinces, and an important producer of grain, fruits, vegetables and seafood, Zhao said.
Zhao hoped that the roadshow would help forge a strong alliance between Shandong and the Midwestern United States in agriculture, bringing greater development opportunities to both.
"China and the United States are highly complementary and have broad prospects for cooperation in agriculture," said Cai Xianjin, director of the foreign affairs office of the Shandong provincial government.
Shandong's imports from and exports to the United States reached 5.02 billion yuan (about 698 million U.S. dollars) in 2023, according to the Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
U.S. Heartland China Association Executive Director Fan Min announced at the roadshow that the association would co-host the 2024 U.S.-China Agriculture Roundtable with Shandong Province in Shandong in June.
Shandong Qihe Biotechnology Co., Ltd. and BCFoods Shandong Co., Ltd. made their pitches during the roadshow. ■