SHANGHAI Mayor Yang Xiong met Colorado State Governor John Hickenlooper yesterday and said Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the US last month was fruitful.

The mayor said Shanghai is playing a key role in the China-US relationship and the city is keen to strengthen friendly ties and cooperation with its sister cities and regional governments in the United States.

Yang noted that the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has made progress after two years of operation and the city is continuing its effort to facilitate investment and trade and to further open up its financial sector.

He said the Shanghai government encourages more local Chinese companies to invest overseas through the Shanghai FTZ and also welcomes companies from the United States and other countries to invest in Shanghai.

Innovation is the soul of future development and Shanghai is speeding up its transformation into a global innovation center. Many types of start-up incubators are operating well in Shanghai, Yang said, adding that he hopes Shanghai and Colorado can widen cooperation in areas of education, science and technology, culture and tourism.

Hickenlooper said Shanghai achieved miracles over the past two decades and its experiences are worth learning for Colorado. He said Colorado has a number of research institutions and facilities. Companies and universities on both sides should cooperate more closely.