On January 27, Consul General Gao Yanping met with Annise Parker, Mayor of the City of Houston in the City Hall. Consul Wang Peijun and Chief of Staff of the Mayor's office Waynette Chan were present.

Consul General Gao congratulated Parker on her assuming the post of Mayor of Houston City and wished Houston a better future under her able leadership. Consul General Gao said that China and Houston had maintained friendly relationship. In recent years, the areas of the cooperation had been enlarged,two-way trade and investment had increased steadily. More than 10 top Chinese enterprises had set up branch offices in Houston. A lot of companies with headquarters in Houston had set up branch offices in China. Shenzhen, Guangdong Province was the sister city of Houston. Shanghai had partner relationship with Houston. With further development of China-U.S. relations, exchanges and cooperation between China and Houston in areas of trade, energy, science and technology, culture and education would be further increased, thus benefiting the peoples. Consul General Gao invited Mayor Parker to lead a delegation to attend the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

Mayor Parker said that she visited China more than 10 years ago. The fast development of China and hospitality of the Chinese people impressed her deeply. She said that the City Government of Houston attached great importance to the exchanges and cooperation with China. The City Government and the Chinese Consulate General jointly presented a variety show of Chinese performing arts last December for celebrating the forthcoming 2010 Shanghai World Expo and the New Year at Wortham Center in downtown Houston, successfully setting a good example of cooperation. As the Mayor of Houston, she would continue promoting friendly and cooperative relationship between Houston and China. She was looking forward to visiting China again in the near future, Mayor Parker said.