HOUSTON - Dialogue and exchanges between the United States and China should continue and be strengthened, a local US official told Xinhua.

Attending the opening ceremony of an oil painting exhibition by a Chinese artist, the Woodlands Township Board of Directors Chairman Gordy Bunch said on Sunday that as exchanges between the United States and China get closer, the door of dialogue should never shut.

"You have to recognize that we have Chinese Americans within our community. We have Chinese owned companies that are doing business here in the United States. So you have to keep the dialogue open at the local level," he said.

The Woodlands is located in the Greater Houston Area, about 55 kilometers north of the city of Houston. Bunch said that as a diverse community, the Woodlands tries to embrace different cultures through people-to-people exchanges.

"As we continue to grow we embrace different cultures that we have here in the community and broader communities," he continued.

The oil painting exhibition showed the most recent works of Chinese female artist Fan Jin, a member of China Artists Association. Bunch expressed the belief that showing the works by a Chinese artist is a good way to enhance cultural diversity and build cultural connections between the two peoples.

"We are an open community, we have more room for growth. So we are doing the outreaches and we are happy to engage events like this to shed lights on culture from some of our local residents and some international artists like Fan Jin," he added.

More than 200 people, including some local artists, attended the event.