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.

Shandong Province

By Juliette Schindler Kelly
We took the bullet train for a little over four hours to travel from Beijing to Weifang, located in the middle of the Shandong Peninsula.

Weifang appeared to us to be a hidden Chinese treasure. It is renowned as the world's kite metropolis, with an international kite festival every April, and calls itself the vegetable basket of China. It also is known for its flowers, mineral resources and communications infrastructure. It is very clean and well cared for. We had only a short time to spend in Weifang but spent a pleasant evening with Dr. Wang Guiying, vice mayor, and were told by one of her staff that she was named one of the up and coming mayors in China.

In the morning I woke at 5:30 a.m. (a common tale to those who have traveled overseas) and realized that I wasn't going to fall back asleep. I debated about returning to the fitness area of the hotel that Lt. Gov. Owen and I had used the afternoon before. It was very different than most U.S. health clubs in that you are asked to change into special clothes that resemble short silk pajamas (pink for the ladies, gray or white for the men) and slippers, with the assistant standing close by to assist. You are then escorted to the elevator, every step of the way with hotel employees at hand, beckoning, pushing the elevator button, etc. (Leading me to contemplate on China's stated unemployment number of around 4% and what some of these 'jobs' pay. Does this fit the economic concept of underemployment or are these employees the lucky ones, to get jobs in a five-star hotel, even if to an outsider it appears to be “make work”?)

Anyway, I didn't feel like that much attention at this tender hour so threw on my running clothes and after politely say 'ni hao' to the desk clerk, asked if he could recommend a path to take. He frowned and told me the air is bad and I thanked him and asked again ... eventually we realized our communication barrier was to great and he told me to 'go right'. I enjoyed seeing the sights on foot and was impressed again with the lack of garbage and in fact recycling containers on the street. In addition to the ubiquitous bicycles and mopeds, there were some Chinese out jogging and doing tai chi.

It was not crowded though, and later that day we discussed that the 'cities' we are visiting sound huge but the term incorporates districts that we do not in our country. One source of information on Weifang says it has a population of 8.6 million, as Lt. Gov. Owen pointed out in a meeting about 2 million more than the state of Washington. But this source describes Weifang as having under is jurisdiction 4 districts, 6 cities, 2 counties, and 3 municipal development zones. Clearly not a city in the American sense.

We took a two-hour bus ride to Qingdao, located on the southern tip of the Shandong Peninsula and one of eastern China's major economic centers. It is known for Tsingtao beer and since the Olympics, for the Qingdao International Sailing Center on Fushan Bay, site of the sailing competition. We visited both places and in the process learned about the history and economy of the area. Tsingtao beer was established by the Germans during their control of the city, an unusual circumstance in China. Some of the architecture reflects this heritage, particularly in the old town area.

Like the Puget Sound area, Qingdao is rich in seafood and other natural resources. We were honored to have Tian Guangwen, the director and vice president of Qingdao Port, join us at the dinner that the Qingdao Municipal Foreign Affairs Office graciously hosted. The Port of Qingdao and Port of Seattle share a friendship agreement, also commonly called sister ports. We learned more at the dinner about the growth and record volumes of Qingdao Port, one of the very largest in the country.

Photos: At top is the fountain, complete with beer bottle and cups) at the Tsingtao brewery and museum; at center is Lt. Gov. Owen with the Port Director Tian Guangwen. At bottom right the lieutenant governor is with Feng Bin, deputy director of the Qingdao Municipal Foreign Affairs Office.

Our arrival, visiting The Great Wall - and a chat about Taiwan

Lt. Gov. Owen, Trooper David Putnam and I arrived in Beijing after a long but uneventful flight, other than the unfortunate four passengers around my seat who became nauseated from the turbulent landing, and the unusual feeling of having a masked silent agent hold a thermometer in front of your forehead before you could get up from your seat. We were whisked off by our hosts to a very Chinese-feeling holding room at the airport, with a lush red rug and oversized upholstered chairs arranged in a ring around the rug.

Soon our passports were returned to us and Annie Zhou (who assists the trip organizer, Ron Chow) and I found a taxicab and were on our way to the Great Wall. After 45 minutes or so, we arrived and I excitedly led Annie up the very steep and uneven steps to a structure where we stepped out of the heat to recover our breath and look at the view.

Just like everyone who visits the Great Wall, I'm sure, I marveled at how on earth it was done...on the backs and even graves of many Chinese we were to hear during our visit. We hit rush hour traffic on the way back to the hotel and quickly showered and convened with the rest of the group in the lobby and loaded a van for the Diaoyutai State Guest House. I had heard about this compound before but upon entering the gates, was struck by the beauty of the grounds and the buildings.

We were taken to an exquisitely decorated room where Lt Governor Owen was seated next to our host, Mr. Chen Zuming, Secretary General of the Chinese Association for International Friendly Contact. The rest of our group sat in the chairs lining the side, as is the protocol for these meetings. Mr. Chen and Lt. Governor Owen spoke for nearly an hour, with a large segment of the conversation focused on the China-Taiwan relationship and Mr. Chen asking about the Washington state relationship with Taiwan. Mr. Chow joined us with a new member of our group whose plane from Washington DC was delayed by late departure and some passengers being quarantined due to fever.

Upon Mr. Chow and Mr. Blum's arrival, we moved to the dining room, where we were treated to a delicious dinner and told by the manager a bit of the history of the State Guesthouse, such as it was originally built for a royal fishing site. We drove back to the hotel and collapsed into bed after many hours without uninterrupted sleep.

The next day - surprisingly, already Monday due to the crossing the date line, talk about your weekend going too fast! We had a meeting with the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs at the impressive ministry site. Mr. Lu Hongbo greeted us in a formal meeting room and talked with the lieutenant. governor about the history of US-China relations, trade relations, Washington state and again, appealing for U.S. political support for China's 'One China' policy with Taiwan.

Minister Lu recalled that as a young farmer in 1971 he was shocked when we learned that Henry Kissinger was officially visiting (he added that Kissinger was visiting China at that moment as well).

He states now the US and China have a $330 billion US dollar bilateral trade relationship, so clearly when one side has a problem it affects the other. He complimented Washington state on its support of free trade and stated that to revitalize the ailing world economy, the US and China must both oppose trade and investment protectionism.

He appealed to the lieutenant governor to encourage congressional members to stand firm on free trade. Lt. Gov. Owen talked about the diversity of opinions and even within our state the regional and political differences - including differences on trade issues.

Minister Lu asked about our state's relationship and trade level with Taiwan. He stated tension has been relaxed between Taiwan and China recently under the new leader of Taiwan, Ma, but stated firmly that China will do whatever it can to improve relations - but with one thing in mind...a One China Policy. (He noted Taiwan sending observers to the World Health Assembly was alright but an isolated case, not a precedent as most international organizations require members to be sovereign states).

Lt Gov. Owen applauded the WHA decision due to the importance of sharing health information and Taiwan being a region of 23 million people. The minister asked Lt Governor Owen to discourage official contact with Taiwan.

The minister also spoke about Airbus' growing presence in China, including assembling the A320 in China for the first time and going from 15 to 40 percent of the Chinese market and the challenge this presents Boeing. In parting, the two discussed the delegation's visit and agreed that China and U.S. will continue to improve their relations.

Photos: At top right, Lt. Gov. Owen exchanges gifts with Mr. Lu Hongbo, China's assistant minister for foreign affairs. At center, Juliette Schindler Kelly enjoys some quick sightseeing. Bottom: Lt. Gov. Owen with Mr. Chen Zuming, secretary general of the Chinese Association for International Friendly Contact.

Preparing for takeoff

We met our hosts in China in April in Lt. Governor Owen's office and look forward to meeting the trip coordinator, Ron Chow (right of above photo) and Mr. Wang Xiwei of the Chinese Association for International Friendly Contact) upon arrival in Beijing.

As final preparations are made for mission to China -- just like with any foreign mission with an elected official -- there are last-minute details to check. One of those is checking the latest travel alert to be prepared for the possibility of quarantine upon arrival. Not wanting to be in a situation like Mayor Nagin of New Orleans, I am trying to get enough sleep and take my multi-vitamins! Beyond that, it's hoping the eleven plus hour economy flight won't raise my temperature one degree...

A common question before leaving is "So, are you ready?" And I always finding myself answering "Well....almost...?" After staffing the lieutenant governor on four missions and doing the legwork for others, I have come to terms with the fact that there is never truly a final itinerary and the key to success is flexibility...and a sense of humor.

News release on China trip

Our communications office just posted the news release on the upcoming mission to China that provides details about the trip:

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Lt. Governor Owen leads mission to China

Lt. Governor Brad Owen will depart for a trade and goodwill mission to China on Saturday, June 27, where he will meet with leaders in two provinces, visit with schoolchildren and sign an agreement to promote business and friendship exchanges between his office and Hainan Province in southern China.

For the first time, the lieutenant governor invites Washington residents to share his weeklong travels by following along on a new blog to be updated along the way. Postings on the blog, found at http://www.overseaswithbrad.blogspot.com/, will be by the lieutenant governor or his chief of staff, Juliette Schindler Kelly, who will accompany him on the mission.

After a brief overnight in Beijing and dinner with Ambassador Ding Yuanhong, the lieutenant governor will travel to the city of Qingdao in Shandong Province on China’s east coast, where he will witness the signing of an economic development agreement between a Seattle-based investment group under US sponsorship and local investment firm agents from the region.

He will also visit the city of Haikou in the south east province of Hainan, where he will meet with Jiang Sixian, the vice governor of Hainan, and other provincial leaders. The lieutenant governor will sign an agreement “to promote people-to-people friendly contacts and economic and trade interflow between the two sides, and actively carry out exchanges and cooperation in the fields of tourism, culture, education and others.”

The lieutenant governor is also scheduled to visit an elementary school in that province – something he tries to do on nearly every foreign mission he takes.

This will be the lieutenant governor’s eighth mission to China since being elected as the state’s second-in-command in 1996.

“It is very important, especially in these lean economic times, to strengthen our international relationships and find new ways to stimulate trade,” Lt. Governor Owen said. “These missions help keep Washington state visible with our top trading partners.”

Mainland China was one of the state’s leading export destinations in 2008, with exports totaling nearly $10 billion. The mission, coordinated by Seattle businessman Ron Chow, is hosted by the Chinese government.

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