On September 22, the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) and the US-Asia Institute co-hosted a virtual visit of the “River-to-River” US Congressional Staff Delegation. 8 US Congressional staffers from the states in the Mississippi River region had a video discussion with the Chinese side. Ambassador Zhao Weiping, Vice President of the CPIFA chaired the talk. Mr. Zhang Bo, Chief Engineer and Director General of the Department of Water Ecology and Environment, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Mr. Qin Yu, Director General of the Hubei Foreign Affairs Office, Ms. Fu Yun, Engineer of Wuhan Water Science Research Institute, and Mr. Huang Huorong, Airport Hub Project Director of SF Group, attended the talk. They briefed the US delegation and answered questions on the issues relating to the ecological environment protection and water management in the Yangtze River region, the COVID-19 response and the economic recovery.

On September 15, at the invitation of the CPIFA and the US-Asia Institute, Mr. Jing Quan, Deputy Director General of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had a video discussion with the delegation. The two sides exchanged views on China-US relations.