US Ambassador Locke to leave post next year_美文

US Ambassador Locke to leave post next year

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US Ambassador to China Gary Locke, the first Chinese-American to hold the post, will leave his job in early January, he announced on Wednesday.

Citing personal reasons, Locke, 63, said he is returning to Seattle to rejoin his family.

In an official statement to the media, he said US President Barack Obama was told of his decision during their meeting earlier this month.

"Serving as the US ambassador to China has been the honor of a lifetime," he said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Wednesday that China appreciates Locke's efforts to advance communication and cooperation between the two countries.

Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Locke's signature achievement was reducing waiting times for Chinese to obtain visas to the US.

Locke also focused on expanding trade, especially increasing US exports to China, and promoting Chinese investment in the US, Glaser said.

US research firm Rhodium Group says Chinese investment in the US will probably set a record in 2013.

This will follow a record year in 2017, when deals worth more than $6.5 billion were reached, a 12 percent increase from the previous record of $5.8 billion in 2010.

Tao Wenzhao, a senior research fellow in US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Locke, a former commerce minister, has devoted himself to helping US companies explore China's market, not only in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, but in smaller cities.