Kicking off California’s trade and investment mission to China, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. met with China’s Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng on Tuesday and signed a landmark agreement with the Ministry of Commerce to bolster economic ties and cooperation between California and China.

“While California seems relatively small compared to the vastness of China, the innovation, the creativity of Silicon Valley, our medical advances, the Internet and various other technologies make California, I believe, a very valued partner for China,” said Gov. Brown in the meeting with China’s Minister of Commerce. “I see the meeting today as just another step in a long history of increasing mutual understanding and collaboration.”

The agreement, the first-of-its-kind between a subnational entity and the Ministry of Commerce, establishes a joint working group that includes California, the Ministry of Commerce and leaders from six provinces – autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government – Jiangsu, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Shandong, Guangdong and Chongqing, representing more than 350 million people.

The working group is the product of talks between the Governor and President Xi Jinping during his visit to California in February 2012.

The two leaders identified a need for enhanced cooperation and communication between California and China to advance mutual interests in trade and investment.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) establishing the working group was signed at a ceremony attended by dozens of business and government leaders from California and China who met to discuss trade and investment opportunities.

“You can be sure that over the next several years that this union will have been the beginning of a lot of creative energy and output and production that will improve the lives of millions of people,” said Gov. Brown in remarks at the signing ceremony.

The working group’s activities will include: a regular exchange of information, annual seminars on trade and investment cooperation, trade missions and the formation of strategic relationships between cities in California and China.

The MOU also identifies nine key sectors for cooperation, including infrastructure, biotechnology, information technology, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, tourism, environmental protection and exhibitions.

China’s Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Mechanic and Electronic Products and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development will participate in the working group as representatives of the business community.

The governor’s trade and investment mission follows more than a year of significant diplomatic and business exchanges between the State of California and China.

In February 2012, Gov. Brown welcomed His Excellency Xi Jinping, then-vice president, and now president of China, to California. During the visit, Gov. Brown announced his intention to visit China, open a trade and investment office and form a China-California Joint Task Force to drive more collaboration, investment and trade between California and China.

Later in 2012, the Brown administration convened the inaugural Joint Economic Committee between California and China’s Jiangsu Province, hosted a Chinese delegation led by the Vice Minister of China’s Ministry of Commerce and met with a Chinese delegation led by Deputy Governor Xia Geng of China’s Shandong Province.

This week and next, the governor will meet with Chinese government and business leaders, highlight bilateral trade and investment opportunities between the two regions and open a new trade and investment office.

In addition to Beijing, the trade and investment mission will include events in Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen through Tuesday, April 16.

Joining the governor on the trade and investment mission is a delegation organized by the Bay Area Council that includes approximately 90 business, economic development, investment and policy leaders from throughout California. Senior administration officials also are accompanying the delegation.