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《腹地之行，动人之旅》——秦刚大使在《得梅因纪事报》发表署名文章
文来源：中国驻美国大使馆网站
2022年4月29日，秦刚大使在美国中西部艾奥瓦州最具影响力的第一大报《得梅因纪事报》发表题为《腹地之行，动人之旅》 (原文链接) 的署名文章。全文译文如下：
我刚结束了美国中西部伊利诺伊、艾奥瓦和明尼苏达三州的腹地之旅，我的心留在了这片广袤的土地上。我本着增进理解、促进友好、推动合作的目的而来，我带回华盛顿的是满满的收获和动人的回忆。
我被一个又一个中美互利共赢的合作故事而打动。农业是我此访的一条主线。我在金伯利农场直播推销美国的农产品并试驾大型农用拖拉机，我和我的团队在先正达种子研究基地仔细辨别种子的良莠并了解其对华推广情况，在硕腾查尔斯城工厂获悉该厂的大部分动物疫苗产品供应中国市场，我在史密斯菲尔德加工厂同一线工人共进午餐并高兴地得知这家世界最大猪肉生产商被中国企业收购后为美创造数千就业岗位，我们在马奎斯能源公司共同探讨如何解决该企业的生物燃料乙醇和干玉米酒糟恢复对华出口问题。可以说，我们几乎对美国农业的全产业链进行了一次深入考察，从中我也发现美国农民和农业相关企业需要中国，受益于中国，并期待与中国加深合作。中美在农产品贸易方面具有天然的适配性和互补性，中国的市场是开放的，双方在农业领域具有广阔合作空间。我们要共同为促进农产品双向、正常贸易创造条件，消除目前存在的加征关税等障碍。我们也要超越简单的“我买你卖”，双方可以在农业科技、应对气变、可持续发展方面开展深度合作。我也由衷地感到，中美经贸，特别是农业合作是中美关系的压舱石，美国的工商界和农民是稳定中美关系的中坚力量。
我被一代又一代传承的中美友好故事而打动。我在马斯卡廷市参观了1985年习近平主席考察艾奥瓦州时所住民居改建而成的“中美友谊屋”，与两度迎接习近平主席来访的萨拉·兰蒂、卢卡·贝隆等友人共话友情，出席了中资企业资助当地中学生赴华交流学习的签约仪式。我真切地感受到习近平主席亲自播下的友谊种子，已经在艾奥瓦州生根、发芽、开花、结果。我也更认识到中美关系的纽带牢不可破，连接彼此的力量是一大批长期致力于中美友好交流与务实合作的热心者、维护者和推动者。
我被中美两国人民间的共同品质而打动。我们一路走来，深切地感受到美国人民的热情、友善、朴实、勤劳。我和我的同事所到之处，都感到宾至如归。当我们长途驱车赶到Amana博物馆时，已是晚上10点，而博物馆的灯依然在为我们点亮。Doug and Jody Fairbanks牧场主人一家饲养着400多头奶牛，他们20年如一日辛苦操劳。史密斯菲尔德工厂员工的上班时间是早上6点，冬日里每天上下班都是披星戴月。两国的农民和工人是如此相似，都有真诚的待客之道，也都在为美好的生活而努力工作奋斗，他们共同的品格造就了中美这两个伟大国家，也使得两国人民天生互有好感。
我被两国年轻一代彼此尊重和欣赏对方文化和国家而打动。我走访了芝加哥大学、艾奥瓦州立大学，中国的青年学生在这里孜孜以求，珍惜宝贵时光，也与美国青年建立了深厚的友情，架起中美沟通与合作的桥梁。我走进明尼苏达州的英华学院这所沉浸式中文教学特许学校，欣赏幼儿园到8年级的学生演唱中文歌曲、演奏中国乐器、背诵中国古代诗词，倾听他们讲述与中文的美好渊源以及中文相伴他们成长的故事。十年树木、百年树人，我当时就感到中美友好事业薪火相传、后继有人。今天的这些孩子未来就是推动中美关系发展的源源不断的生力军、主力军。
当我暂时告别这块土地时，我深深地感到中美关系大有希望、大有可为。中美关系可能会有逆流，但它就如同流经美国腹地的宽阔的密西西比河一样，一路向南奔腾到海，势不可挡。美国腹地，后会有期!
Chinese Ambassador Qin Gang: Looking back on a journey to the Heartland and to my heart
I leave the Heartland with my heart filled with friendship and cooperation, and more importantly, filled with confidence in the future of China-US relations.
Qin Gang Guest columnist View Comments
Qin Gang is Chinese ambassador to the United States.
As I conclude my first visit to Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota and return to Washington, my heart remains in the vast American Heartland. I came with friendship and cooperation in my heart, and I take back even more of it, plus many days of fond memories.
I have been touched by the stories of win-win cooperation. Agriculture took a major part of my visit. At the Kimberley farm, I promoted American beef and bacon on live-stream and tried my hand at driving a John Deere crawler tractor. At the Syngenta parent seed lab, my team and I joined the workers in selecting seeds and learned about their market in China. At the Zoetis plant in Charles City, we were informed that most of the plant’s animal vaccine products are exported to the Chinese market. During the lunch we had with workers at the Smithfield processing plant in Denison, we were delighted to know that the world’s largest pork producer has created thousands more American jobs since its acquisition by a Chinese company.
More:Chinese ambassador visits Story County farm, drives tractor, amid heightened U.S., China tensions
We were also at Marquis Energy to discuss how to restore the company's export of ethanol fuel and DDG to China. The journey to the Heartland has afforded the entire Chinese delegation a panoramic understanding of the whole industrial chain of America’s agriculture, from which we see that American farmers and agricultural companies need China, benefit from China, and look forward to further cooperation with China. China and the United States are natural partners for agricultural trade. With the Chinese market wide open, the two sides have broad space for further agricultural cooperation, and this is a call to action to create conditions for two-way, normal agricultural trade and lift the additional tariffs and other obstacles.
On top of that, our cooperation should not just be about “buy and sell”; it can go deep into agricultural technology, climate action and sustainable development. Economic and trade ties, especially those in agriculture, are the ballast of China-US relations, and the American business community and farmers are the backbone of a stable China-US relationship — this trip has deepened my belief in this basic fact.
I have been touched by the stories of friendship passed through generations. My colleagues and I visited the Sino-US Friendship House in Muscatine, where President Xi Jinping stayed during his visit to Iowa in 1985, and we met with old friends Sarah Lande and Luca Berrone who twice welcomed Xi. Their recollection of the time-honored friendship was heart-stirring. There we also attended the signing ceremony for Chinese enterprises to sponsor local Iowa students to study in China. We could tell that the seeds of friendship first sown by Xi have taken root, sprouted, blossomed and borne fruit in Iowa. We could also see from this experience that the bond between China and the United States is unbreakable, and such bond is forged by all those people who champion the cause of China-US friendship and cooperation. More: Glad in Muscatine: What one Chinese businessman and his millions mean to this Iowa river townI have been touched by the common qualities of Chinese and Americans. Every place we visited, we felt keenly how nice and sincere, how friendly and hard-working the Americans are, and we were often overwhelmed by their hospitality. One night, we reached Amana at 10 p.m. after a long drive, and were so moved to know that the local museum had remained open just for us. Doug and Jody Fairbanks have raised as many as over 400 cows on their dairy farm, for 20 years without letup. Smithfield workers begin their workday at 6 a.m., and in winter, they literally work “from dark to dark.” Chinese and Americans have so much in common — they are both kind and genuine, and they both do all they can to earn a better life for themselves and their families. These shared qualities have made our two nations who we are today, and they are why we have natural affinity for each other.
I have been touched by young people’s respect and appreciation for the other country and its culture. At the University of Chicago and Iowa State University, we saw Chinese students pursue their study alongside their American friends, a telling example of China-US communication and cooperation. At Yinghua Academy, a Chinese immersion charter school in Minnesota, we watched its K-8 students sing Chinese songs, play Chinese musical instruments, recite ancient Chinese poems, and recount their stories of learning the Chinese language. These young people are like the seedlings of China-US friendship, who will one day grow up, take over this great cause and carry it forward into the future.
I leave the Heartland with my heart filled with friendship and cooperation, and more importantly, filled with confidence in the future of China-US relations. Just as the mighty Mississippi River cannot be stopped by any undercurrent in its course to the sea, I am convinced that the China-US relationship will also keep surging ahead, towards a better tomorrow.American Heartland, until we meet again!
