Delegation's fluency in Chinese made for better communication during China visit: Sullivan

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Thursday that his delegation's fluency in Chinese helped him communicate better with the Chinese side during his three-day China visit.

During a press conference held at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing at the end of the trip, a China Media Group (CMG) reporter asked Sullivan whether the fact that almost all of his accompanying staff are Chinese speakers had helped him better understand China's core concerns.

"Yes, the answer is yes. No, it's, having a team here, many of whom do speak fluent Mandarin, have deep experience, issues related to the PRC and the U.S.-China relationship, this is, you know, it makes my job a heck of a lot easier and makes me much better than I would otherwise be. And I stand on the shoulders of those experts, because they're the ones with the insights and the wisdom that drives forward the conversations that we've had here over the last three days," Sullivan said.

Sullivan wrapped up his China visit and left Beijing on Thursday.

At the invitation of Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, Sullivan visited China from Tuesday to Thursday for a new round of China-U.S. strategic communication.

Wang held strategic communication with Sullivan on Tuesday and Wednesday. The two sides had six sessions, totaling more than 11 hours, and discussed the China-U.S. relations, sensitive issues and major international and regional hotspots.

This is the first visit to China by a national security advisor to the U.S. President after eight years, the first visit to China by Sullivan in his term, and an important step taken by the two sides to implement the common understandings of the two presidents.

Delegation's fluency in Chinese made for better communication during China visit: Sullivan

Delegation's fluency in Chinese made for better communication during China visit: Sullivan

China's total value-added of industrial enterprises above the designated size, an important economic indicator, expanded 4.5 percent year on year in August this year, official data showed Saturday.

On a monthly basis, the industrial output edged up 0.32 percent in August from the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) said in a monthly statement.

The enterprises above the designated size refer to those with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.82 million U.S. dollars).

The value-added of equipment manufacturing grew by 6.4 percent year on year, while that of hi-tech manufacturing surged 8.6 percent, 1.9 percentage points and 4.1 percentage points faster than the average industrial production growth, respectively.

As for consumption, retail sales of consumer goods went up 2.1 percent year on year in August to 3.8726 trillion yuan (about 545 billion U.S. dollars). From January to August, the overall online retail volume reached 9.6352 trillion yuan (about 1.357 trillion U.S. dollars), up 8.9 percent year on year. The retail sales of services increased by 6.9 percent year-on-year.

"In August, the national economy operated in a stable manner on the whole. We adhered to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability and implemented the new development philosophy accurately and comprehensively, strengthened macroeconomic control and focused on promoting high-quality development. The production demand continued to recover and employment and prices remained basically stable. The high-quality development continued to advance. The economy witnessed a generally stable situation and steady development," said NBS spokeswoman Liu Aihua at a press conference in Beijing.

China's industrial output up 4.5 pct in August