Conference Summary

On October 22-25, 2007, Texas A&M University, the George Bush School of Government and Public Service, the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation, and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries hosted an international conference in Washington, D.C. focused on China-U.S. relations. The third conference in this historic series, the 2007 conference provided policymakers, scholars, and business leaders from both China and the United States an opportunity to collaborate and promote bilateral growth and development.

Former President George Bush and a host of other American dignitaries, including five members of President George W. Bush's Cabinet, joined with top-level Chinese officials to discuss the relationship between their two countries, one that former President Bush calls "the most important bilateral relationship." Over 600 registered participants took part in discussions on issues of importance related to development - including trade and investment issues and education - energy and security.

In addition to former President Bush, the conference had an impressive line-up of distinguished keynote speakers and participants including the following:

• Samuel Bodman, Secretary, United States Department of Energy
• Chet Edwards, United States Congressman
• Chen Zhaobo, Independent Director, Board of Directors, China State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation
• Major General Ding Jingong, Deputy Chief of the Foreign Affairs Office, Ministry of National Defense, People's Republic of China
• Barbara Hackman Franklin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Barbara Franklin Enterprises, and former United States Secretary of Commerce
• Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary, United States Department of Commerce
• Michael Leavitt, Secretary, United States Department of Health and Human Services
• Li Xiaolin, Vice President, Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries
• Li Zhaoxing, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, People's Republic of China
• Liu Yanhua, Vice Minister, Ministry of Science and Technology, People's Republic of China
• Ambassador Ma Zhengang, President, China Institute of International Studies
• Henry Paulson, Secretary, United States Department of Treasury
• Ambassador Roman Popadiuk, Executive Director, George Bush Presidential Library Foundation
• Ambassador Susan Schwab, United States Trade Representative
• General Brent Scowcroft, President, The Scowcroft Group, Inc., and former United States National Security Advisor
• Sara Martinez Tucker, Under Secretary for Education, United States Department of Education
• Wang Chao, Assistant Minister, Ministry of Commerce, People's Republic of Chin
• Zheng Hu, Counselor of the State Council, People's Republic of China, Chairman of China Petroleum Enterprise Association, and Director of PetroChina Company, Limited
• Zheng Zeguang, Charge d'affaires ad Interim, Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States
• Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United States

The 2007 conference program consisted first of several impressive keynote speeches from five current high-level United States Presidential Cabinet members as well as four plenary sessions that explored the conference themes.

Plenary Sessions

• Trade and Investment: Keys for Economic Advancement and Stability
• Developing Partnerships in Global Education, Science and Technology
• Meeting Energy Demands: Collaboration or Competition
• New Approaches to the China-U.S. Security Relationship

These keynote speeches and plenary sessions were followed by more in depth fora sessions on the conference themes as well as three additional sessions on agricultural sustainability, health care, and people to people exchanges. Fora session titles are listed below and more detailed summaries are available on the conference website.

Fora Sessions

• Agricultural Sustainability Forum: Platform for Collaboration and Progress
• Energy Forum: The Global Transition to a Secure Energy Future
• Health Forum: Emerging Health issues Associated with the Rural-Urban Continuum
• Higher Education Forum: Global Universities in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities
• People to People Exchange Forum: Promoting All Aspects of People to People Exchanges
• Security Forum: Evolving and Enhancing Military Relations
• Trade and Investment Forum: Achieving Global Partnerships in the 21st Century

The conference concluded with American and Chinese faculty-led research roundtable sessions in various strategic areas. Conference participants from around the world contributed to the discussions on the topics listed below. Scholars and researchers on both sides are actively following up on the ideas generated or advanced during these sessions, and more detailed summaries are available on the conference website.

Research Roundtable Sessions

• Bioenergy Development, Climate Change Mitigation, and Energy Security
• China-U.S. Polar Region Partnerships: The International Polar year 2007-2008 and Beyond
• Deepwater Technology Workshop
• Developing Institutional and Program Capacity in Student Affairs
• Development of Biological Tools to Sustain Crop Productivity
• Electric Energy for the 21st Century: The China-U.S. Research and Development Needs
• Environmental Pollution and Metabolic Syndrome: Emerging Challenges and Future Collaboration Between United States and China

United States Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn and United States Representative Chet Edwards co-hosted a reception in the United States Capitol in conjunction with the 2007 conference. This reception, which was attended by United States Representatives Louie Ghomert, Ruben Hinojosa, Doug Lamborn, Shelia Jackson Lee, Nita Lowey, Ted Poe, F. James Sensenbrenner, and Adrian Smith, provided an excellent occasion for the United States and Chinese delegates to interact with United States elected officials and their staffers. The reception was followed by a tour of the Capitol hosted by Congressman Edwards.

The 2007 conference also offered an opportunity to develop a new generation of leaders in China-U.S. relations. Twenty students from Texas A&M University and twenty students from universities in China had a unique opportunity to learn about this significant bilateral relationship and to serve as cultural ambassadors during the conference. Students interacted formally through the conference proceedings and the student forum and informally through cultural learning activities exploring Chinese and U.S. society, politics, and history. They also had a private tour of the Pentagon, a tour of the Capitol, and visited other sites of historic interest in the Washington, D.C. area.

The conference was funded by generous sponsorships from organizations with a strong commitment to developing relationships between China and the United States.

Platinum Sponsors

• China National Offshore Oil Corporation
• Exxon Mobil Corporation
• Microsoft

Gold Sponsors

• AMD
• China National Petroleum Corporation

Silver Sponsors

• Amway (China) Co., Ltd.
• The Dow Chemical Company
• IBM
• J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation
• Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs

Bronze Sponsors

• UPS
• Westinghouse Electric Company

Table Sponsors

• Chevron
• National Oilwell Varco/Lanzhou National
• Oilwell Petroleum Engineering
• United Technologies Corporation

The inaugural conference was held at the George Bush Presidential Library Center at Texas A&M University in November 2003. The second conference was held in Beijing in November 2005. Following the success of the 2007 conference, the next conference will be held in China in fall 2009.