The Trip Begins

– Report by Norm Jacknis, County C.I.O.

With the Internet and modern jets, the world has gotten smaller.  But when you take a trip to China, you realize that it isn't all that small yet.  We left Thursday morning and didn't arrive at the hotel in Hong Kong until some time after 12:30 early Saturday morning, China time. 

So why go to all this trouble?  In our previous trips – see http://china.westchestergov.com – we've pointed out how important global trade and especially China is to our own economic future.  It is easy to dismiss this from our thinking everyday, but that doesn't change the reality of the US'  balance of trade problems, the fact that China is now the second largest foreign holder of dollars (after Japan) or the even greater challenge and threat to our national security and the standard of living we take for granted.

Through County Executive Spano's previous work, Westchester County has been established as an important "brand name" in China, especially as one of the world centers for technology.  This marketing helps every business in the county which seeks to get its fair share of the growth in global trade and the Chinese economy.  

It also is the reason why this trip has been paid for by the Chinese, who sought us out, and not by the Westchester taxpayers.  

This particular trade mission had two main goals.  The first was to continue to reinforce the marketing of Westchester County, especially in technology industries.  So in each area we  lmet officials and companies involved with technology.  Most especially, we met the leaders of the Chinese computer company, Lenovo, which has become the world's third largest PC company, following its acquisition of IBM's personal computer business.  Lenovo, as the first Chinese-born multi-national company, has announced that it is planning to establish global headquarters in the US and we want that to be in Westchester County.

The second goal is to assist Pace University in setting up a presence among Chinese students.  In an information economy, our ability to export training and education is an important way we can balance our importation of foreign, especially Chinese, goods.  The County government has assisted Pace in obtaining the Chinese government's official "license" to offer education to Chinese students.  On this trip, we identified several universities that would be appropriate for Pace to partner with.

continue

March 2005
Westchester County - China Trade Delegation
westchestergov.com