A high-ranking delegation of petroleum experts from the People's Republic of China visited the United States, sponsored by the Department of Energy, the first such tour ever officially sponsored by a U.S. government agency. The group of 16 oil and gas experts spent three weeks meeting with top U.S. energy officials and touring production, exploration and development facilities in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and California. Sun Ching-wen, president of China's Petroleum and Natural Gas Corp and vice minister for the oil and chemical industries lead the delegation, accompanied by Li Jen-chun, vice minister of the State Planning Council and the highest-ranking Chinese official ever to visit the U.S. at that point in history.