Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom of California has plans to go to China next week, during which he’ll explore partnerships for various climate initiatives in his state.
The trip by Newsom will include stops in five different Chinese regions, including a Tesla factory that’s located in Shanghai and other facilities in Hong Kong.
Newsom’s trip will last for one week, and he’ll also meet with key business executives and officials to promote various climate actions, strengthen relations for economic development and also encourage more cultural exchanges between China and the United States.
The governor’s office said the goal of his trip was to combat xenophobia, which has become a bigger issue in recent years, especially after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders comprise approximately 15.5% of California’s total population. That totals about 6 million people in the nation’s most populous state.
In a statement regarding his upcoming trip to China, Newsom said:
“California and China hold the keys to solving the climate crisis. As two of the world’s largest economies, our partnership is essential to delivering climate action for our communities and beyond.”
Newsom has been talking about a trip to China for about a month now. He said when his intentions were first announced that it was essential for the U.S. to maintain a climate relationship with China.
When Newsom’s office issued a press release that confirmed his trip to China, they said that China’s economy has been connected to California’s from the moment the Golden State was established in 1850.
China has the second-largest economy in the world, while that of California alone is the fifth-largest.
Approximately 32% of immigrants who emigrate from China to the United States settle in California, according to the press release. That means a significant number of Californians trace their roots back to China.
The governor’s office further said that California strives to establish a “healthy economic competition with China, especially as we work together to transition to low-carbon economies.”
The first stop for Newsom and those who will accompany him on the trip will be Hong Kong. There, he’ll go to Hong Kong University for a fireside chat along with leadership at the school. That conversation will be based around the collaborative efforts between the two countries to combat climate change while also establishing robust economic growth.
The next stop will be in China’s Guangdong province. There, Newsom is set to meet with businesses and other leaders in the region who’ve transformed their industrial cities to become hubs for public transit powered by electric vehicles, as well as increased adoption of EVs by residents.
Shenzhen, a city in the province that has 13 million people living there, was the first in the entire world that transitioned to an entire bus fleet of electric vehicles back in 2018.
Newsom’s delegation will stop there to explore how they were able to make this transition, including the incentives it provided to companies to do so.
