by Xinhua writers Jiang Xufeng, Yan FengWASHINGTON, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Forty U.S. mayors are endeavoring to create a U.S.-China Cooperation Zone to facilitate Chinese investment in the nation to bolster local economies and create more quality jobs, Larry Harte, Mayor of Glendale in Colorado, said here on Thursday.
"We want to make it easier, not harder for Chinese business people to invest in the United States," Harte told Xinhua during an exclusive interview.
The zone, anchored by the Metro Mayors Caucus of the Denver Metro Region, is aimed at providing a friendly and helpful region where Chinese companies might come to fully explore possible investments in the United States, said Harte, also Chairman of the Caucus. They expected to formally announce the creation of the U.S. -China Cooperation Zone next month in Denver.
The 42-year-old mayor noted that this Denver-centered U.S.- China Cooperation Zone might further expand northward to Wyoming and southward to New Mexico in the future.
Harte explained that they planned to win support from the Colorado Governor and state legislature, adding that these mayors were also associating with a host of national associations, law firms, accounting firms and other businesses to find best locations, partners and services in a bid to help Chinese businesses establish U.S. operations as efficiently as possible.
A report released last week by the Brookings Institution revealed that against the backdrop of budget deficits and dramatically enlarged national debt in the world's largest economy, the need for foreign capital to meet local governments' vital needs and promote long-term economic development was crucial nowadays.
Foreign capital could play a constructive role in promoting U.S. infrastructure investment, financing the development of low-carbon and energy efficiency technologies and in other areas, noted the report.
"Cities and towns in the Denver Metro Region have great potential to cooperate with China in sectors including energy, electric vehicles, water purification, agricultural exports, tourism, and among others," Harte said.
"We are serious about attracting Chinese investment to Colorado and other parts of the nation while strengthening our ties," he added.
The mayor who has been in office since 2004 contended that there was great interest in both countries to create more win-win opportunities for companies, and this initiative was one important step to achieving better economic development prospects for the two most important economies in an increasingly inter-connected world.
