This file photo taken on March 6, 2020 shows Chinese American businesswoman Shirley Young at her apartment in New York, the United States. (WANG YING / XINHUA)

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON - Shirley Young, a legendary business executive and long-time promoter of bilateral exchanges between the United States and China, died on Saturday at the age of 85 at a hospital in New York, according to a release from Young's family on Monday.

Young served as vice-president of General Motors from 1988 to the end of 1999 and played a key role in General Motor's billion-dollar investment in China through a joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.

Shirley Young had been active in boosting exchanges between the United States and China via cultural events, the Committee of 100 and other platforms

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Young had been active in boosting exchanges between the United States and China via cultural events, the Committee of 100 and other platforms.

In 1990, Young helped establish Chinese-American leadership organization Committee of 100, together with other prominent Chinese-Americans including the late architect I.M. Pei, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and the philanthropist Oscar Tang, and remained active in the organization for the rest of her life.

As chair of the US-China Cultural Institute, Young helped stage many cultural events and served on boards of a number of cultural institutions including the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Lang Lang International Music Foundation and the National Dance Institute.

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Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai on Monday extended his deepest condolences to Young's family.

Young was "an outstanding lady, who not only had great business achievements, but also devoted her lifetime to advocating for the interests of Chinese Americans and the mutual understanding between the Chinese and American people," Cui said.

The Committee of 100 that Young co-founded has been "an important bridge for China-US political, economic, cultural and educational exchanges," he said.

"In recent years, despite the downturn of China-US relations, she continued to call for greater understanding between our two countries. Her passing is a loss to both China and the United States, and she will be remembered forever," Cui said.

Young had also served on the boards of Bank of America, Teletech Holding, Salesforce.com and other companies, and as vice-chairman of the Nominating Committee of the New York Stock Exchange.

Born in Shanghai in 1935, Young immigrated to the United States at the end of World War II.

Young, a graduate from Wellesley College and Phi Beta Kappa, spent nearly three decades in the research division of Grey Advertising prior to joining General Motors.

Young was married to and divorced from George Hsieh and Norman Krandall. She is survived by three sons.