Hundreds of educators, government and business leaders gathered at a luncheon and panel discussion in Salt Lake City to talk about career opportunities for Chinese language learners and trade relations between the US and China.

The plenary is part of the 11th annual National Chinese Language Conference, a three-day event co-sponsored by the Office of Chinese Language Council International, the College Board and Asia Society. The largest gathering of Chinese language education practitioners in North America kicked off Thursday with a lavish banquet and appearance by guests, including Utah Governor Gary Herbert.

The plenary, titled "Building a Globally Fluent Workforce", is one of many panel discussions and small group meetings of the conference, which runs through Saturday.

Its speakers included John Holden, the CEO of US-China Strong Foundation, Amy Celico, principal of Albright Stonebridge Group, Derek Miller, CEO and president of Utah World Trade Center, Matt Salmon, a former Arizona representative and the current vice-president of government affairs at Arizona State University, and Wenchi Yu, head of Global Public Policy at VIPKID.

The speakers shared anecdotes about how knowing Chinese had helped them achieve career goals, and they also touched on current relations between the US and China.

Holden, who moderated the program, said the two countries have enjoyed a deep and complicated economic relationship with each other, and he hopes they will be able to work out a good, long-term solution to trade issues.

"We have to recover the solid foundation of our relationship, which is economics and commercial," he said. "If we don't have that as a basis, US and China relations are facing difficult times."

Utah State Senator Howard A. Stephenson, who is also the state national education coordinator, said conspiracy theories have destroyed working relations between the two countries.

"My experience, having spent hundreds of hours with Confucius Institute leaders, is that they have nothing but the best intentions for the United States and our welfare," he said.

Stephenson also lauded the Chinese Language Flagship Program, part of a national initiative sponsored by the US government that allows students to learn languages critical to US national security and economic competitiveness, such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, and Turkish. The program, installed at 21 higher education institutions across the US, seeks to graduate students who reach a "superior level of proficiency" in the language of their choice, according to the website of the program.

"It's very compatible and complimentary to have a Confucius Institute sponsored by China, because they both have the same goal to make Chinese fluency and cultural awareness," he said. "It benefits them both, they are not in conflict and they are not in competition."

Salmon said US and China should work side by side to resolve issues such as climate change.

"You tell me one relationship you have ever had in life that has improved when you walk away from it," Salmon said.

Liu Yinmeng in Los Angeles contributed to this story