Mr. Mark Warner, Governor of Commonwealth of Virginia, visited Beijing and Shanghai from June 5th to 12th. Mr. Jia Qinglin, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, met with Governor Warner in Beijing. Mr. Jia hailed the agreement signed between the Fujian Province and the Commonwealth of Virginia on establishing sister province (state) relationship, and hoped the two sides could take the opportunity to accelerate the bilateral relations. Mr. Jia pointed out that people in Fujian share similar language, blood and customs with those in Taiwan. Eighty percent of people in Taiwan can find their ancestors in Fujian. No one will allow Taiwan to split from China, and the policy of one China is the only way to solve the Taiwan issue.

    Governor Warner said he felt very pleased to see the sister state (province) relationship between Virginia and Fujian. As a leader in information and telecommunication industries, Virginia is ready to export more telecommunication equipment to China, which is the 5th largest trading partner of Virginia.

    Governor Warner also met Mayor Han Zheng in Shanghai.