On April 16, the US presidential designated trade delegation led by Penny Pritzker, US Secretary of Commerce, and Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Deputy Secretary of Energy, visited CELAP and attended the China-US “Cooperative Innovation Forum”. Mr. Max Baucus, US Ambassador in China, Mr. Hanscom Smith, US Consul-General in Shanghai, and officials from Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and Shanghai Municipal Commerce Commission accompanied the visit. After the speeches, CELAP participants from the “Seminar on Deepening Financial Reform” (11th cohort) exchanged ideas with US secretaries.
Prof. Feng Jun, Executive Vice President of CELAP, met with the delegation before the forum, and presented Chinapedia to the delegation as a gift. The forum is chaired by Mr. Jiang Haishan, Vice President of CELAP.

Prof. Feng Jun delivered a welcome speech at the start of the forum. He introduced how CELAP had been carrying out international exchanges and cooperations, exploring international training, projects and building international exchange platforms for leaders. He pointed out that the visit of two US secretaries is a significant sign of enhancing mutual understanding and trust, and deepening practical cooperation. He hopes that the visit of the two US secretaries will further strengthen the cooperation, making new contribution to the continued friendship between the two peoples.
Secretary Pritzker, Deputy Secretary Sherwood-Randall, Mr. Hugh Martin, Chairman and CEO of Sensity Systems, and Mr. Ren Zhufeng, Assistant General Manager of China Minmetals Corp., delivered keynote speeches on the forum.

Centered on the topic of “Innovation and Entrepreneurship”, Secretary Pritzker talked about the American corporate spirit and culture, and practices of the US Ministry of Commerce in funding corporate innovations and coping risks. She said that the delegation is the first one designated within President Obama’s term of office, which includes representatives from 24 US companies with technologies of clean energy, who are looking for cooperation opportunities in China.
Deputy Secretary Sherwood-Randall talked about the US’s concerns on climate change and the policy support, capital investment and innovative research of clean energy in the US.
Mr. Huge Martin and Mr. Ren Zhufeng are representatives of US and China entrepreneurs. They focused on the topics of “US Entrepreneurship” and “China’s Financial Reform and Innovation” respectively.

Later, CELAP participants had a lively interaction with the four speakers, discussing issues regarding the interaction between the US government, enterprises and the market, the US development strategies of clean energy, and the US import and export policies for the development of oil and gas.
Mr. Max Baucus, US Ambassador in China made an appreciation speech, in which he expressed his appreciation for the extraordinary arrangement of CELAP and hoped that more activities of the kind would be held in the future.
CELAP has been committed to developing itself into an international, contemporary and innovative academy, and has been actively engaged in international cooperations, with a view to improving the leaders’s international perspective and their capability to facilitate international communication. CELAP has invited over 500 government officials, corporate executives, experts and scholars from over 30 countries to give lectures and participate in various teaching activities. The Academy has organized over 50 such high-level exchange activities, serving as a platform for participants to share experience and discuss issues of interest.