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On Thursday, July 13, the China General Chamber of Commerce-U.S.A. (CGCC) and the National Governors Association (NGA) co-hosted a Welcome luncheon Forum at Rhode Island. Over 250 guests including Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai, U.S. state governors and officials, representatives from CGCC member companies, and other business executives from US, Australian, Canadian and Japanese companies attended the event. Chairman of CGCC and President and CEO of Bank of China USA Xu Chen and Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan gave the welcome remarks. Ambassador Cui Tiankai delivered the keynote speech. Executive Vice President of China Investment Corporation Qi Bin and Governor of Kentucky Matt Bevin had a dialogue on “International Investment Fostering State Economic Development”. Governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, Governor of Nevada, Brian Sandoval, Governor of Rhode Island, Gina Raimondo, and Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe participated in the panel discussion.
In his keynote speech, Ambassador Cui Tiankai emphasized that China-US local exchanges are an important driving force for the deepening and expansion of China-US relations. Both parties should redouble our efforts to make sure that the mutually-beneficial nature of our economic and trade relations is given full play in our future endeavor. He said, “China is upgrading its opening-up level by establishing pilot free trade zones, streamlining procedures for foreign investment companies, opening more sectors for foreign businesses, and a lot of other measures. Our reform efforts will open up new prospects for China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation. Many Chinese companies have a keen interest to invest in the U.S. thanks to the competitive investment environment. Chinese investment is making positive contributions to the local economy, employment and tax revenues.”
Cui expressed hope that the U.S. business community would talk to the federal government in an effort to resume the BIT talks between China and U.S., which is now shelved by the Trump administration after going through 33 rounds of negotiations in the past five years.
Xu Chen pointed out in his welcome remarks that Chinese companies have helped maintain and create new jobs in the U.S. and are also committed to giving back to local communities. “Only last year, our members made over 40 billion dollars of investments across 44 states in the U.S., up by 200% from 2015”, said Xu, “Chinese companies have increased capital spending in R&D and are proactively promoting awareness of intellectual property protection among the Chinese investors. CGCC members are also actively participating in the U.S. infrastructure construction and have expressed keen interest and optimism in participating the infrastructure plan under President Trump’s administration.”
Governor Larry Hogan said that China is Maryland’s fifth largest export market and its fourth largest market for imports. “We’re really proud of the excellent relationship that we have with China, which is evident through the success of the 27 Chinese companies that already headquartered in our state. Looking ahead, we very much want to further strengthen Maryland’s ties with China and we want to find ways to do even more businesses together in the future,” said Hogan.
In the following panel discussion, Executive Vice President of China Investment Corporation, Qi Bin and Governor of Kentucky, Matt Bevin had a dialogue on “International Investment Fostering State Economic Development”. Matt Bevin said that enthusiasm is high at the state level to further expand business ties with China, and the federal government is actually willing to listen to voices from the states.
In another panel discussion, Board Member of China Construction America James Simpson, COO of Servcorp Marcus Moufarrige, Chairman of Mexichem Juan Pablo Del Valle, Vice President of Marketing and New Business Development Americas of Magna International Scott Paradse and North America Zone President of Solvay Mike Lacey shared their experiences on investing and expanding businesses in the United States.
During the NGA 2017 Summer Meeting, CGCC member company representatives also held conversations with Governor of Alaska, Bill Walker, Governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, Governor of Kentucky, Matt Bevin, Governor of Louisiana, John Del Edwards and Governor of Rhode Island, Gina Raimondo, and exchanged opinions on strengthening state-level economic and trade cooperation.
CGCC expresses special thanks to the National Governors Association for their support to this event. CGCC will continue to organize various high quality events to promote state-level communication between U.S. and Chinese communities, and to facilitate Chinese companies’ sustainable growth in the U.S.
About China General Chamber of Commerce – U.S.A. (CGCC)
Founded in 2005, the China General Chamber of Commerce – U.S.A. (CGCC) is a nonprofit organization representing Chinese enterprises in the United States. Our mission is to promote Chinese investment in the U.S., to support the legal rights and interests of our members, and to enhance cooperation between Chinese and U.S. business communities. The CGCC’s extensive membership includes numerous companies from both China and the United States, including 40 Fortune 500 companies. The CGCC is the foremost representative of Chinese businesses in the United States.
About The National Governors Association (NGA)
Founded in 1908, the National Governors Association (NGA) is the collective voice of the nation’s governors and one of Washington, D.C.’s most respected public policy organizations. Its members are the governors of the 55 states, territories and commonwealths. NGA provides governors and their senior staff members with services that range from representing states on Capitol Hill and before the Administration on key federal issues to developing and implementing innovative solutions to public policy challenges through the NGA Center for Best Practices. NGA also provides management and technical assistance to both new and incumbent governors.
For any questions or feedback, please kindly email contact@cgccusa.org.