Trade ties between the US and China are in a rough patch, but Washington's current rhetoric overshadows plenty of friendlier policies on the ground. CGTN's Mike Walter recently sat down and spoke to the governor of Colorado, to find out what he thinks about current trade tensions between the world's two economic powerhouses.

MIKE WALTER CGTN AMERICA "As we look at the tensions between the two countries right now with trade, and yet on your level, the sub-national level, we see so much engagement. And these relationships build overtime. Talk to me about the importance of that and can that underpinning, that's so important, that's been decades in the making. Is it enough to help this, kind of, bumpy ride that we are going through?"

JOHN HICKENLOOPER COLORADO GOVERNOR "Yeah, I think we have built, not just in Colorado, but across the country, we built muscle, and that muscle has taken years to develop. But that muscle takes a form of commitment to a trading future. It doesn't mean that you don't want to adjust the system. And I think NASA is probably a good example, having been adjusting probably in 25 years. You need to bounce things out to make sure that every 5 or 10 years, you look at the system and say are there winners, losers, how can we make it more fair for the losers, how can we figure out ways so that it should be, ideally, it should be a rising tide, raises all the ships."

MIKE WALTER CGTN AMERICA "Talk to me about where you see the relationship between the United States and China. It's a bumpy road right now. Do you think things' gonna iron out soon or is it gonna take a while, and where would you like to see the trajectory going?"

JOHN HICKENLOOPER COLORADO GOVERNOR "I think the key, well, next year, let's say the next two years, it's clearly gonna be a bumpy ride. And you know in many ways I think we are using a sledge hammer, when we should be using a small thumb tack hammer. We don't have the right tool, to really adjust these trading agreements properly. But I think the most interesting question is where do you want to see our relationship with China in 20 years, or 50 years? And what does that long-term relationship look like? How do we build a level of trust? One thing I think people too often don't recognize in this world in the last ten years, it lifted a billion people out of poverty. And long term that's a good thing for the world and a good thing for America."