US Under Secretary of State Patrick F. Kennedy and visiting Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Jinzhang on Thursday signed the Conditions of Construction Agreement (COCA) in Washington.

The COCA will apply to new construction, expansion, renovation, and demolition undertaken by the two countries of all or parts of their respective diplomatic sites in the United States and China, including both embassies, the Chinese Mission to the United Nations and the five existing consulates in each country.

In China, the US consulates covered under the agreement are located in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, Chengdu and Wuhan. In the United States, the Chinese consulates are located in Houston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

According to the agreement, the US State Department will award a contract to construct a new Guangzhou consulate compound, which will consist of seven buildings.

"The construction of a new consulate in Guangzhou reflects not only the importance of the United States-China bilateral relationship but also the breadth of issues in which out countries are engaged as this new century progresses," said a statement issued by US State Department.

(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2009)