China's Rising Leaders: 2011 Delegation Visit

In December 2011, NBR’s new initiative—China’s Rising Leaders: Building New Ties and Opportunities—assembled the first delegation of seven Chinese rising leaders in business, politics, academia, and media and brought them to the United States to meet with key decisionmakers and influential figures in Seattle and Washington, D.C.
Delegates met with many key stakeholders in American foreign policy circles. Highlights of the week-long visit included:

• A roundtable discussion and VIP tour of Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond, WA
• A roundtable seminar on “China’s Evolving Global Relations” at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington
• A VIP tour of the Boeing Company Manufacturing Plant in Everett, WA
• A dinner discussion on “The Current State and Future Trajectory of U.S.–China Relations—A Washington State Perspective” with former Senator Slade Gorton and Rogers Weed (Washington State Department of Commerce)
• A breakfast roundtable with American China experts hosted by Ambassador Stapleton Roy at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
• A lunch roundtable on the U.S.–China Economic Relationship with Ambassador Carla Hills and U.S. government and industry representatives
• A conversation with Congressman Rick Larsen (D-WA), co-chair of the House of Representatives U.S.-China Working Group
• A dinner discussion on the U.S. political system hosted by Ford Motor Company featuring William Galston (Brookings Institution)
• An on-the-record conversation with officials from the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon
• A breakfast roundtable with Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)
• An “Alternative Futures” exercises hosted by UPS and led by Roy Kamphausen (NBR)
• A dinner discussion on “U.S.-China Security Relations” featuring Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA)
• A private meeting with Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell

Cheng Li and delegates at NBR

Cheng Li and delegates with Senator Joe Lieberman I-CT

NBR President Rich Ellings with delegate Fan Zhiyong

Delegates and NBR staff with with China experts Ambassador Stapleton Roy, Douglas Spelman, David M. Lampton, Robert Hathaway, and Roy Kamphausen