California, China have much business to do

Annual ChinaWeek in Los Angeles brings together delegates in key fields

About 170 delegates are traveling from China to Los Angeles to engage in discussions with 300-plus American counterparts on five major topics — agriculture, clean tech, cross-border investment, e-commerce and infrastructure — at the ongoing ChinaWeek.

An annual event dedicated to promoting business and cultural exchanges between China and California, ChinaWeek draws industry and government representatives from Guangdong, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanghai and Chongqing to expand and deepen bilateral trade and investment, said Peter Shiao, chairman of ChinaWeek and its organizer.

California Governor Jerry Brown, as usual, was upbeat on the state’s relationship with China during his keynote speech at Tuesday’s California-China Business Summit, an important component of ChinaWeek.

Brown anticipates closer and deeper collaborations within a wide spectrum of industries and fields between China and California, especially high tech, clean tech, real estate, agriculture, infrastructure and education. “Let’s roll up our sleeves to have the work done,” said the governor.

China in the past 16 years has invested $16 billion in more than 370 businesses in California and accounted for 60 percent of international trade activities in the “gateway state”, said Shiao, adding that China remains Los Angeles County’s biggest trader partner.

US President Donald Trump’s administration might deploy a more practical approach to advance the China-US relationship, said Shiao. “We expect more exchanges and dialogues to take place on the state-province level, and NGOs to play bigger and more important roles to help relevant parties to communicate.”

Infrastructure in particular, said Shiao, will attract more Chinese direct investment. Trump earlier had pledged to invest $1 trillion over 10 yeas to improve the nation’s dilapidated infrastructure, which analysts believe might rely heavily on public-private partnership.

In April, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) announced that it had signed a $178 million deal with China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. Ltd (CRRC) to build 64 railcars for the subway.

“I know a lot of negotiations are ongoing between Chinese investors with the airports, the ports and the Metro in California,” said Shiao. “American infrastructure projects in California and beyond need an influx of Chinese money and technology.”

On clean technology, California has long been at the forefront on China’s battle against pollution and climate change. It reaffirmed its clean-energy goals and continues its partnership with China on subnational levels on both regulation and technology development.

The joint efforts not only spur innovative clean-air solutions and create business opportunities, but also establish solid national and regional best practices, said An Feng, founder and CEO of the US-China Clean Tech Center, who moderated two of Tuesday’s panel discussions on cleantech cooperation.

“China vows to utilize 2.5 percent of its GDP, a $1 trillion equivalent, to tackle environmental problems during its 13th Five-Year Plan (201620),” said An. “What tremendous business opportunities this policy could generate for American clean-energy industries.”

American infrastructure projects in California ... need an influx of Chinese money and technology.” Peter Shiao, ChinaWeek organizer