(In Chinese.)

(Applause.)

(In Chinese.)

(Applause.)

And Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Madam Peng, distinguished colleagues from

China, the United States, very special guests – and everybody here is a special guest – we’re very, very

pleased to welcome you all to the Ben Franklin Room. As most of you know, this room was named

for the fellow up there above the fireplace, Benjamin Franklin, one of the founders of

the United States and someone who is considered by historians to be

America’s first professional diplomat.

Do we have – I see there are no headphones for --

STAFF: Yes, there are.

SECRETARY KERRY: -- for our – okay, good. All right.

Dr. Franklin – the reason I mention this is because Dr. Franklin was absolutely fascinated

by the great scholar Confucius and by China generally, which he way back then called the

wisest of nations. As a scholar himself, Franklin learned all he could about Chinese silkworm,

cultivation, about ship design, candle-making, and home heating. And one of his inventions,

the Franklin stove, was actually based on Chinese ideas, which emphasizes that intellectual

property was a hot issue way back then. (Laughter.)

I’m really delighted to be able to welcome President Xi and his delegation back to Washington

and to take this opportunity to wish all of our friends from China a very happy Mid-Autumn

Festival. I’m a little bit early; the festival actually begins on Sunday, and I understand

that it has traditionally been a time of courtship and matchmaking, when young Chinese couples

get together and fall in love. Now, here in the United States, we have our own Sunday

ritual which takes place in major cities, involves large numbers of people in parking

lots grilling meat and drinking beer outside of football stadiums. We call it tailgating,

and I want to confirm to everybody here today it has absolutely nothing in common with the

Chinese tradition. (Laughter.)

My friends, it really is a privilege to host such a great gathering of public and private

sector leaders. We have two of my predecessors as Secretary of State here today – Dr. Madeleine

Albright and Dr. Henry Kissinger – and we welcome you. Thank you. (Applause.)

We have top officials from throughout the executive branch, friends from Congress, and

some of the world’s most successful and innovative business leaders, economists, and

scholars. And a guest list like this speaks volumes to the breadth of the U.S.-China relationship.

In fact, I truly wonder if a relationship this close and this consequential was, in

fact, foreseen even by Dr. Kissinger – he will tell you yes – (laughter) – during

that first historic visit to Beijing 44 years ago.

It’s important to remember that in the not very distant past, U.S.-China ties were centered

on a very – relatively narrow set of bilateral and regional matters. But today, thanks to

focused diplomacy on both sides – and, I might add, a very constructive and comprehensive

set of discussions last night at dinner and through this morning with the President – through

the leadership of President Obama and President Xi, our nations are now collaborating to tackle

some of the most complex global challenges the world has ever seen. And we are – as

you will learn today with the comments of the Vice President and the releases from the

White House and our friends from China, the breadth of the memoranda of what is going

to be engaged in coming out of this is sweeping.

Today, our nations recognize that while our differences will undoubtedly continue to test

our relationship, they should not and in fact they must not prevent us from acting cooperatively

in other areas. The United States and China comprise one quarter of the global population.

We make up one-third of the global economy. We generate one-fifth of global trade. And

when we’re pulling in the same direction, we can bend the curve of progress in a way

that few other nations on earth can accomplish.

Now that is true on a number of issues, but I have to tell you it has proven to be particularly

true on something where only three years ago we were divided, and that is the issue of

climate change. Together, the United States and China have an extraordinary opportunity

to correct the perilous course that our planet is on and which the Holy Father has spoken

to so eloquently most recently in his visit to Washington.

As the Chinese proverb says: “Opportunity knocks at the door only once.” I’m pleased

to say that I believe both of our nations are now committed to opening that door, to

taking advantage of the time that we have to act and to bringing about a cleaner, healthier,

and more sustainable future for us all.

Last year in Beijing, I was privileged to be with President Obama and President Xi when

they jointly announced our respective ambitious, post-2020 greenhouse gas mitigation commitments

and called on other countries to come forward with their own ambitious targets. I’ve been

active, I can tell you, in this fight all of my Senate career and even before, and I

will tell you we were stuck until China and the United States came together. And that

moment broke the veil of avoidance and got countries across the world to say, “If they’re

serious, we need to be serious.” It sent a clear message to the world that the time

for excuses was over and that the roadblocks that have slowed us for too long can be removed.

And over the course of the past year, we have continued to make progress and implement the

targets that we announced last fall.

I’m very pleased to say that the joint statement that our leaders is releasing today is, again,

a major step forward. It sets forth a common vision for the final agreement describing

our aligned views on a number of key negotiating issues. This is heading into Paris for the

Paris negotiations in December. And it demonstrates a strong momentum in both countries on domestic

climate policy, including our clean power plan and China’s commitment to green dispatch

in their power sector. It breaks new ground on climate finance, to help the most vulnerable

nations be able to transition to low carbon development and it helps to actually build

resistance to climate impacts in many nations, with China today announcing a 3.1 billion

climate finance commitment commensurate with the U.S. pledge to the Green Climate Fund.

So we – (applause). There’s a lot more, but that – let me just say quickly that

the bottom line is that both the United States and China are truly blessed as nations with

the strength and the resources and the people to lift up people in other parts of the world,

to brighten prospects across the globe. But we can obviously accomplish far more when

we are focused on doing so together. It’s certainly true that the close ties between

our nations would have, except for Henry Kissinger, been hard to envision years ago. But if we

can continue to invest in this relationship – which is what we’re trying to do – if

we can remain committed to frank discussions – and believe me, they were frank – and

to managing our differences even as we expand our cooperation, we can only imagine where

we might be a few decades from now.

It’s now my pleasure to introduce the Vice President. I have been fortunate to call the

Vice President a friend and a colleague for a very long time. And throughout those years,

I’ve relied on his advice, his expertise, and his good humor. In recent months, for

reasons that are well known to all, America has come not just to admire Joe Biden, but

to fully understand the depth of his character and the love in his heart. The world knows

Joe Biden to be an outstanding leader, a champion of international understanding and peace.

We also know him as a wonderful and courageous human being.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Vice President of the United States. (Applause.)

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Please. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Please.

You’re very kind. Thank you.

It’s obvious only a good friend could make that up. (Laughter.) Thank you, John. Jill,

Secretary Kerry, Teresa, President Xi, Madam Peng, it’s an honor to have you here. Ambassador

Baucus, who’s a great friend and doing a great job; Secretaries Lew and Pritzker; Secretary

of State Albright, it’s great to see you, Madam Secretary; and our former ambassadors

to China are here, Jon Huntsman, Gary Locke, Winston Lord, Ambassador Roy, Ambassador Sasser

– you’re all welcome.

I don’t know – you know I’ve been an admirer of yours, Dr. Kissinger, for a long

time. And that’s for real; you know that. And as John said, I wonder whether you could’ve

imagined being here today, where what you started, your initiative and your incredible

personal diplomacy, began to change the face of the globe in terms of this relationship.

And I look out there today, and we have leading members of the Senate and the House; we have

great foreign policy experts who are – represent every element of our foreign policy establishment;

we have the most dynamic group of business leaders – with all due respect, Mr. President

– in the entire world assembled here, although the best one is from my home state, Chairman

Kullman, the – she is the – she runs the DuPont company. And we have the nation’s

leading representative of American labor, a great, great friend of mine, Mr. Trumka.

And all assembled here for one reason – with a sense of optimism and expectation that we’ll

be able to work through whatever differences exist and what those that will come forward.

Secretary Kerry and President Xi have heard me say this before, and I sort of learned

it from you, Dr. Kissinger: It’s presumptuous to try to improve on Tip O’Neill who said,

“all politics is personal.” I’ve become convinced from watching you over 40 years,

all international politics is only personal. If you can’t establish a personal relationship

– you don’t have to love one another, but you can’t establish a personal relationship

where you understand one another – it’s awfully hard to get anything done. And more

than four years ago, President Obama and President Xi decided that then-Vice President – President

Hu decided that then-Vice President Xi and I should get to know one another.

And so we did exactly that. I had the opportunity of traveling from Beijing to Chengdu and every

other place in between with the hospitality of the president. We had more hours of dinners

alone than I think he ever anticipated, and then I had the honor of hosting him here in

the United States in Washington and in – and Los Angeles. When he went to Muscatine, Iowa,

I told him I couldn’t go, and – but I should have gone. He went – (laughter) – he

went and he became President. I didn’t go and I’m still Vice President. (Laughter.)

I don’t know what the hell’s in the water in Iowa, but whatever he was drinking, it

worked, and we’ve had many opportunities to visit in the meantime.

Mr. President, the many hours we’ve spent together – we have had countless private

discussions that go well beyond the typical talking points. And I came away – and I

told the President this after our multiple meetings – that I came away impressed with

the president’s candor, determination, and his capacity – his capacity to handle what

was – what he inherited, and every leader inherits, is great opportunities but also

very serious concerns. And as President Xi knows, because of Dr. Kissinger, in 1979 as

a junior senator I joined a group of very senior senators, from Jack Javits and others,

on the first visit of any American elected representative to Beijing to meet with Deng

Xiaoping after Dr. Kissinger and President Nixon normalized relations. And I came back

at the time and said a few things that – I know I never say anything controversial, but

were viewed as controversial at the time. I said that a rising and peaceful China could

be and should be a very positive development in the world, and that I saw no reason back

in 1979 and I see no reason why ultimately we could not work together, because the ultimate

interests we have are not dissimilar.

Then as now, I recognized that our two countries had clear disagreements and we will continue

to have them. This is not a new phenomenon. But the animating logic of our relationship

is also not new. Both sides accept that we each gain more from working together than

our interest – and our interest – where our interests align than working alone, by

addressing the differences candidly. And as John said last night, we kept the poor president

up very late and we went very long, and we had very, very candid discussions, the President

– President Obama and President Xi, because we’re of the view – the President and

I and the Secretary, as I believe President Xi is – that that’s the way we should

deal with one another so there’s no misunderstanding.

As I noted in this year’s Strategic & Economic Dialogue, it’s been 10 years since then-Deputy

Secretary Bob Zoellick called on China to become what he then said: a responsible stakeholder.

Here’s what Zoellick said at the time – he said, “All nations conduct diplomacy to

promote their national interest. Responsible stakeholders go further. They recognize that

the international system sustains their peaceful prosperity, so they work to sustain the system.”

That’s what we’re about working our way through, is the how we best do that

with one another.

President – since President Xi has assumed the presidency of China, he and President

Obama have met six times, establishing their own close, personal relationship as well,

because both our presidents are convinced that the U.S.-China relationship will be the

defining relationship of the 21st century. President Obama feels that very strongly,

and I know the president of China, President Xi, does as well.

We’re still going to have differences. We have differences with our closest allies.

But we’ve made much progress, from curbing Iran’s nuclear activities to aligning our

climate change goals, as John has spoken to in more detail, to, I predict, lead the world

– lead the world – in the first really serious, serious international effort to deal

with climate change. And today we announced progress on several other areas, including

strengthening our military-to-military relationships – those have already been strengthened,

but deepened even further today – and expanding our cooperation on international development.

And even as this cooperation contributes to our efforts to be responsible stakeholders,

we also have to be responsible competitors, working together to sustain a level playing

field that is fair and transparent. President Xi candidly spoke last night about actions