Shaanxi and New Jersey join forces in New York to boost green industry ties

Key highlights:

Around 120 political and business representatives gathered in New York for a China (Shaanxi)-US economic matchmaking conference focused on green and health industries.

A modest but telling signal of how Sino‑American economic engagement is evolving unfolded in Manhattan on Monday. The China (Shaanxi)-US Economic and Trade Matchmaking Conference, jointly organised by the Shaanxi Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the New Jersey‑based Council for Trade and Investment Promotion, brought together roughly 120 participants from political and business circles.

The agenda was tightly focused. Discussions centred on green and health industries – specifically plant extraction, the broader health sector and green food. Alongside industry presentations and an exhibition, organisers arranged one‑on‑one business matchmaking sessions, a format that tends to produce more tangible outcomes than speeches.

For the Chinese side, the conference fits a wider pattern. Provinces are increasingly taking the lead in maintaining economic ties with US states, moving beyond central‑level dialogue. Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said such sub‑national cooperation can leverage the comparative advantages of both sides and form mutually beneficial relationships.

There is recent precedent. In November, the seventh China‑US Sister Cities Conference was held in Hangzhou, drawing representatives from 36 US counties and cities across 28 states, alongside 26 Chinese provincial regions. In September, a separate China Provinces‑US States Economic and Trade Cooperation Seminar took place in Xiamen, with participants from six Chinese provinces and five US states, including California and New Jersey. Most recently, in late April, the mayor of Honolulu visited Chengdu to mark the 15th anniversary of that sister‑city relationship.

For foreign observers, these lower‑profile gatherings matter. They keep commercial channels open, test new areas of collaboration – from industrial coordination to talent and education – and do so without the rhetorical baggage of higher‑level summits. Monday's event in New York may not have made headlines, but for the 120 people in the room, it was a day of handshakes, sample displays and quietly signed memoranda. That is how much of the real work gets done.