California business leaders join Brown during China trip

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown has company on his trip to China to further his climate change agenda: About 30 California business leaders are along for the ride to support Brown’s policies and build their own business deals.

The business delegation is led by the Bay Area Council business advocacy organization and includes executives at transportation and energy companies, public utility leaders, academics, investors and a top executive of the San Francisco International Airport.

Most paid a fee of about $5,500 on top of their travel costs to attend four days of events, including multiple private dinners and receptions with Brown, a clean energy ministerial and meetings with Chinese business and political leaders.

Brown’s office declined to provide an estimate on the trip cost’s for him and staff members being paid for by a nonprofit group that takes private donations.

“The purpose of this is really to enable California to play a global role on an issue that’s of huge global consequence,” said Jim Wunderman, president of the Bay Area Council, which helps run California’s trade office in China. “The governor showed a lot of appreciation about having fellow Californians take the time to go to China just for a few days.”

Brown’s five-day trip, which ends today, has generated heightened media and political attention following President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement.

Brown has pledged California’s support to continue meeting emission reduction goals laid out in the international accord. He signed a new agreement this week with China aimed at boosting green technology.

It’s his second trip to China. A 2013 visit was paid for by Bay Area Council delegates.

But this time, a different group of businesses is paying for the visit for Brown and four of his staff members. The nonprofit California State Protocol Foundation collects private donations to fund travel and other expenses for the state’s governors, with the goal of eliminating costs to taxpayers.

Donations to the foundation to support Brown’s activities must be regularly disclosed. Documents show labor unions, a physicians group and businesses such as Walmart gave between $25,000 and $100,000 to the foundation in 2016 to pay for Brown’s travel, meals and other activities.

Oakland developer John Protopappas, a longtime friend of Brown’s, serves as the foundation’s president. Tom Willis, an attorney for the nonprofit group, said donations were not solicited specifically for the China trip.