The Trip Begins

Jingzhou, along the Yangtze River in the central Chinese province of Hubei, has been Westchester County's sister city for ten years. In that time, it has developed to the point where today's meetings were very focused on specific projects of benefit to both Jingzhou and Westchester.

The day started at 8:00 AM with a breakfast meeting including Mr. Duan Lunyi, the chairman of Jingzhou's legislature and the general secretary of the party -- in other words, the man who runs the city. The meeting also included Ms. Wang Xianfang (deputy secretary general), Mr. Wang Zuhua (director of Jingzhou's Foreign Affairs Bureau) and others from that bureau.

The discussion focused first on education, with both Pace University and Westchester Community College offering scholarships for students from Jingzhou.

Then the meeting moved to economic development issues. Among other topics, County Executive Spano discussed a proposed project for Jingzhou to use its agricultural waste to feed a plant manufacturing a new kind of synthetic wood for the Chinese market, based upon our technology. Mr. Duan was very interested in this as well as other economic opportunities of mutual benefit.

We later visited Yangtze University where we met with several university officials and professors, including President Zhang Changmin, Vice President Li Jiabao, Professor Xiao Yihu (who directs the International Exchange Program) and Professor Du Youfu (Dean of the Computer Science School).

At the conclusion of the meeting, a formal exchange agreement was signed by Pace President Caputo and Yangtze President Zhang (who spoke English quite well).

Next stop was the famous Jingzhou Museum to see how Jingzhou had improved the museum as a result of the technical assistance provided by former Westchester Parks Commissioner DeSantis, when he was here several years ago. The effort was clearly a success.

We then drove over to Jingzhou's only waste water treatment plant, which was built in 2001 by a Dutch company and is intended to serve 250,000 buildings. It needs expert professional management and the city plans to issue an RFP for this. They stated their preference for a firm from Westchester, based upon our reputation in this area. County Executive Spano discussed the details with Mayor Yang Yuhua and Director HePing Qin of the City Committee on Construction.

Later we were off to a Yangtze riverfront hotel that is owned by the city government, but is now available for private ownership under favorable terms. This is the second potential project that Westchester's Economic Development Director, Sal Carrera, has facilitated between China and Starwood Hotels.  

Then from the hotel, we went to the headquarters of the "Construction Committee. There Jingzhou City officials discussed with County Executive Spano and (to his left) Board Chairman Ryan, along with the other County officials, the various projects in detail and the ways in which Westchester-based companies could play a role.

This long day ended with a two-hour meeting including the mayor and many other Jingzhou officials. Among other topics covered was making Jingzhou's historic district available to Westchester-based companies for redevelopment and historical tourism. The picture shows Jingzhou's mayor describing the old city wall around this district. All in all, we set in motion as much as could be in a one day visit.

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March 2005 Report by Norm Jacknis, County C.I.O.
Westchester County - China Trade Delegation
westchestergov.com