December 20, the delegation of U.S. Congressional staff paid a visit to SIIS. The delegation had a discussion with research fellows from SIIS on such issues as Sino--US relations, trade cooperation, new energy development and environment protection and so forth. Vice President Yang Jian hosted the discussion. Director of South Asia Studies, Mr Zhao Gancheng, Deputy Director of the Institute for Economic Comparative Studies, Dr. Zhang Haibing, and other research fellows participated in the discussion.