The Trip Begins

Taizhou -March 27, 2005, 11:30 PM

After the Lenovo meeting, late afternoon, it was back to the airport for a flight to Wenzhou Airport and then a drive to Taizhou, one of China's most developed and prosperous export-oriented coastal cities.  We came there, in part, because of a unique Westchester connection -- the partners (Mary Zhu and David Hsu) who run Imperial Wok in White Plains and Somers are opening up a huge dining/hotel/entertainment facility in Taizhou.  They have developed personal relationships in Taizhou, which opened up the way for our delegation.

The picture below shows the culmination of a lengthy set of meetings between County Executive Spano and various officials of Taizhou.  The County Exec and Mayor Zhang Hongming of Taizhou are shown signing a sister cities agreement for mutual economic cooperation and educational, cultural and medical exchanges.  Taizhou's 5.6 million people accounted for about $4 billion in exports last year and, with a large pool of dollars, they are now beginning to look for investment opportunities outside of China. The CE discussed how some of that money could be spent in Westchester. This is a two-way street.

Shanghai, Tokyo/Narita,  - Monday, March 28, 2005, 10:00 PM (NY Time)
and on to home

The trip to China is over and now we've begun what is essentially a 45 hour, two day journey home, although it will look like one day on the calendar -- since we pick up the day we lost going over the international date line.  Much was accomplished and the delegation continued to position the County for trade and other opportunities in China.  This small investment of time has huge payoffs both in the short run and, more important, long run for those of us who live and make a living in Westchester.  

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