Outcomes of Lt Governor Owen's week in China

Since our visit to China earlier this month, there have been some positive results of the mission. We were pleased to deepen relationships with our Chinese counterparts and make further economic development inroads for our state. Lt. Governor Owen summarized the highlights and important conversations that took place in a letter to Governor Gregoire.

These included:

* The signing ceremony between American Life Inc., a Seattle-based property investment and management firm, and agents from various provinces of China to enlist their services in signing up Chinese investors for American Life’s real estate projects, has shown immediate results. To date, four new investors have signed on to the Seattle regional center.

* Lt. Governor Owen signed a memorandum of understanding between his office and Hainan Province with the purpose of “enhancing and developing friendship and cooperation” and “promoting mutual understanding”. We expect to receive a delegation from Hainan Province later this year.

* We have met with the director of the Port of Seattle, Tay Yoshitani, to report on our meetings with the Port of Qingdao and Hainan Airlines and to discuss the expressed wish from Hainan Airlines and government officials in Hainan Province to increase Washington state-China tourism.

* I met with the director of government relations in the northwest region of the Boeing Co. to discuss the concern raised by the ministry of foreign affairs in China.

We relayed the Chinese government officials’ message regarding official contact with Taiwan to the governor.

Thank you for your interest in Brad Owen’s travel to the People’s Republic of China.

For the full text of the letter click here: http://www.ltgov.wa.gov/eletters/072709ChinaHighlights.pdf

From north to south: Hainan Province

By Juliette Schindler Kelly
We drove straight from the Haikou, Hainan airport to a meeting with the president of Hainan Airlines Co, Mr. Wang Yingming and his associate. Hainan Air had its inaugural flight between Seattle and Beijing on June 9, 2008, the only flight it has to the U.S.

Lt. Governor Owen and Mr. Wang discussed the impact of the global economic downturn on air travel, and ways to fill the vacant seats and thus safeguard this important flight. Mr. Wang asked for helping promoting tourism to China, particularly to the tropical Hainan Province, in our state.

We then went directly to a signing ceremony between a Seattle-based company, American Life Inc. and new Chinese agents for promoting the EB5 investment program. Ray Klein, co-founder of American Life based in Japan, signed agreements with the agents for the federally-sponsored capital investment program which will help bring capital and jobs to the Puget Sound.

Lt Governor Owen made a short speech congratulating them. After a quick shower, it was time for the formal meeting followed by the dinner...you know the routine by now! Tonight we were hosted by Jiang Sixian, the vice governor of Hainan Province, a very amicable and (I was told by his colleague) very hard working man. Tonight was a little different from prior nights in that we had another signing ceremony after the formal meeting, this time a friendship agreement between Lt Governor Owen and the vice governor of Hainan Province, agreeing between their two offices to promote people-to-people contacts and 'trade and economic interflow'. An area of discussion, like with Hainan Airlines, was promoting two-way tourism.

In the morning we attended a graduation of the sixth grade class of Haikou #25 Primary School. It was an elaborate affair with the school band playing the music to Bonanza when we arrived and seating us at the front. After we heard the children speaking and reciting poetry, Lt Governor Owen spoke, then helped conduct for the children's orchestra. He was then asked to play a guitar and sing, so he did Puff the Magic Dragon for the children, who impressed us with their manners and talent.

We met with the principal, teachers and other school officials, and it was fascinating learning more about their education system. For those in the Olympia area, stop by the Lt. Governor's office to view the handouts from the school in our reception area.

For the last leg of our mission, we visited what the Chinese used to call 'the end of the world' and now they call it, if they're lucky, their vacation destination. Sanya, we were told by our meeting with the vice mayor Yao Lei, is the Miami of China and is on the same latitude. (Others called it the Hawaii of China...you get the picture. It is the only tropical city in China and the biggest seaside city with a population of 550,000. It's a young city, only 20 years old, and Mr. Yao said it's aspiring to be an international city and thus is welcoming investment as well as tourism.

We constantly searched for Washington wine and told our Chinese friends about it, gave it as presents in a few cases, but did not see any in our travels...or any American wine for that matter. However, we were pleased to see the Washington cherries at a grocery store as we were wandering through. A taste of home which brought a smile to our face, as we began to say our goodbyes and pack for home!

Photos: Top, Lt. Gov. Owen, center, with officials from Hainan Air and Juliette and trip coordinator Ron Chow. Center: Signing ceremony between Lt. Governor and officials from Hainan Province to promote friendship and trade. Lower right: Lt. Governor leads the band during visit with school kids at Haikou #25 Primary School. Bottom left: Discovery of Washington cherries.

Qingdao and Henan Province

By Juliette Schindler Kelly
On Wednesday, I awoke to a beautiful day in Qingdao; apparently the brief but heavy rainfall had washed away the grayness in the air. I admired the view of the ocean, old-fashioned architecture and sculpture along with, of course, a large building being constructed (photo).

Then it was off to tour Haier, like Tsingtao Beer a company begun by the Germans if I understand correctly, but now a very successful Chinese company with a dazzling array of products tailored to and exported all over the world. Some of the products rivaled those in Microsoft's Home of the Future, like the sink with a mirror that recognizes the identity of the user and a welcome message appears on the mirror as the water is warmed to the user's preferred temperature.

Haier's grounds were amazingly planned and sculpted (photo) and we viewed a photo of Haier's impressive building in Manhattan. Next we visited Jimo City, hearing a presentation at
Chang International, a Seattle-based seafood company. The site in Jimo, Evergreen Foods, ships to the U.S. and Europe primarily from the nearby airport and port of Qingdao.

It is a community, with workers able to live, eat and shop at the site. They use increasingly more sustainable raw materials and grow organic vegetables on site for packaging with seafood to make meals. They see hatching fish, farming organic vegetables and processing as their future of value-added seafood. Jerry Chang, the president, received his master's degree from University of Washington fisheries school, a fact he was proud of, and in fact talked about possible exchanges between the U.W. school and his undergraduate fisheries school in Qingdao.

Jimo is one of the cities within greater Qingdao. As is the protocol for such meetings with government officials, we had a formal meeting with the first vice mayor of Jimo, Deyan Zheng, (photo) followed by a lunch banquet.
Again and again, the Chinese demonstrate their gracious hospitality including with these lunches, with smaller plates (like tapas) being served one by one while you choose from a variety of local dishes on what we'd call a Lazy Susan in the middle of the table.

Preparing banquets, welcoming their guests warmly, offering to carry bags (even when they are petite women about half your size!), and giving beautifully decorated gifts are all customs to show their friendship and develop 'guangxi' or a longer relationship.

The vice mayor expressed sincere interest in establishing a sister city relationship with a Washington city and we discussed possibilities to approach, thinking of which Washington cities might be a match in their economic bases.Then it was time to fly to Henan Province, a new region for both Lt Governor Owen and me. After landing in Zhengzhou we drove northwest to a city called Jiaozuo. We drove through green rural areas, with a lot of agriculture production, particularly cotton.

Unsurprisingly, textile production is an important industry in Jiaozuo. We crossed the wide Yellow River before entering the town. We were formally greeted in the city hall by the mayor Sun Litsun and his colleagues, along with the presence of local media (photo).

Again, the desire to find a sister city to form a friendship agreement with was put forth by this mayor. Then the vice mayor and foreign affairs officials hosted our dinner banquet, comprised of local foods and emphasizing food with herbal and medicinal qualities.

Although they didn't help apparently, I can't blame these properties for causing me to be up many hours that night with food poisoning, as my stomach upset had started earlier. Unfortunately, that seems to be one of the occasional and unfortunate consequences of traveling to a land with food and drink your body isn't familiar with, and my trusty kit of meds was soon put to use.