|
Yang |
BY CATHY JETT
Trade relations between the Washington area and China got a boost yesterday in Stafford County.
Representatives from Virginia, Maryland and China met at Cannon Ridge Golf Club to celebrate the formation of the Jiangsu International Chamber of Commerce.
"JSICC will serve as a bridge and voice of entrepreneurs, a resource pool for your business, and will help you to grow smartly and successfully," its president, Stafford entrepreneur Jimmy Yang, told the nearly 100 people who attended.
China and the U.S. have become each other's second-largest trading partners since they opened trade relations 30 years ago. China is also one of Virginia's top trading partners, and Gov. Bob McDonnell is especially eager to expand that relationship, said Jim Cheng, Virginia's first Asian-American secretary of commerce and trade.
The governor has set a high priority on trade, education and cultural ties with the Jiangsu province of China, which borders Shanghai and has one of the world's fastest-growing economies, he said. Virginia has an office in Hong Kong, and McDonnell plans to open one in mainland China. He will visit China in the next year or so.
JSICC is an outgrowth of the Wuxi Association of the Greater Washington Area, which promotes friendship, communication and mutual benefit between the U.S. and residents of Wuxi, a city in Jiangsu that has been dubbed Little Shanghai.
Its board asked Yang, a native of Changzhou, China, and a personal friend of that city's vice mayor, Jiuyun Han, to head the new organization. Yang owns Universal Stones in Stafford, and is senior economic adviser to the Changzhou municipal government and was director of the Washington office of the Changzhou Foreign Trade and Economic Corporation Bureau. Changzhou is a city in southern Jiangsu.
JSICC's goals include strengthening bilateral trade, exploring business investment opportunities, and encouraging scientific research and cultural exchange programs, Yang said. It also will help organize seminars on bilateral trade and investment, training programs for small businesses and consultations on how to set up businesses in the U.S. and China.
It is open to businesses, groups, government agencies and individuals from Jiangsu and the surrounding area who intend to set up business in U.S. or who live here and are interested in doing business in Jiangsu and neighboring regions.
Yesterday's event was one of three stops the Chinese representatives, including Han, are making in the U.S. The others are in Chicago and Houston.
The program gave attendees a chance to tout the advantages of doing business in their localities, states or provinces, plus some good-natured sparring between representatives from Virginia and Maryland, which has been more aggressive about courting relationships with China.
While China is one of the biggest markets in the world, it's still a place where business is done through personal relationships, Cheng said after the program. JSICC will help develop those by serving as a gateway between the Washington area, the Chinese Embassy and Jiangsu province.
"If people in China know you, it's easier to do business," he said. "It will make them think of Virginia first instead of states like California."
Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407
Email: cjett@freelancestar.com
