WASHINGTON - Secretary of State John Kerry is sending his special representative for global intergovernmental affairs to China for the upcoming US-China Governors Forum, the State Department said Thursday.

Reta Jo Lewis will address the third event of its kind in Tianjin, an event that will provide the American governors and their Chinese counterparts the opportunity "to discuss economic and trade cooperation and environmental management," the department said in a statement.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad will lead the US delegation, which includes Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

The US-China Governors Forum was established by a memorandum of understanding signed during then Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington DC in January 2011.

Co-convened by the US National Governors Association and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship With Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) , the forum has served as an platform between US state governors and Chinese provincial leaders to promote peer-to-peer exchanges.

Past forums and dialogues, held respectively in Salt Lake City, Utah in July 2011, and in Beijing in October the same year, "have promoted discussions on trade and investment, education exchanges, and cooperation on energy and the environment that have resulted in the signing of numerous cooperative frameworks," the state department said.

In Beijing, Lewis will address the CPAFFC on Monday and meet Chinese central and provincial government officials to promote sub-national partnership, the department said.