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- China’s Vast Emerging Market - "DTW Views" By Lester Robinson, DTW Director
- On Traveling with Wayne County to China - Jerome Hill, Butzel Long Attorney
- The Wayne Country Trade Mission was a venue that gave us access to numerous companies to pursue those efforts - Louis E. James, President JASCO International
- Detroit Chinese Business Association is proud to have a strong partner, Wayne County, in promoting the mutually-benefit business exchanges between US and China - Raymond Xu, Advisor, 2003-2005 President, Detroit Chinese Business Association
- Higher education a key in trade - William Barber, PhD, Vice President of Academic Affairs for Career & Technical Programs, Henry Ford Community College, Dearborn, Michigan
- Wayne County's efforts to develop new business with China are critically important in the redevelopment of the economy of Southeast Michigan.
- John W. Carroll, Jr., Executive Director, Detroit Regional Economic Partnership
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Te-Yang Soong, Ph.D., P.E., Director, Solid Waste Services
CTI & ASSOCIATES, INC. REALLY APPRECIATES WAYNE COUNTY AND MR. FICANO'S LEADERSHIP IN HOSTING THE 2008 CHINA TRADE MISSION.
 As an environmental consulting firm, CTI and Associates, Inc. really appreciates Wayne County and Mr. Ficano's leadership in hosting the 2008 China Trade Mission. It helped us establish business connections with Chinese officials and potential partnership relationships with Chinese environmental companies. China is undoubtedly in desperate need of environmental protection knowledge and practices. CTI is looking forward to a long-term corporative relationships with the visited Cities and implement our expertise in landfill, renewable energy and total waste management and planning technologies in China.
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John W. Carroll, Jr., Executive Director,
Detroit Regional Economic Partnership
WAYNE COUNTY'S BUSINESS MISSION TO CHINA HAS BEEN EXTREMELY HELPFUL TO THE BUSINESS ATTRACTION EFFORTS OF THE DETROIT REGIONAL ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP.
 Executive Ficano's leadership and presence in China, along with the relationships he has developed with top government officials there, helps us meet new prospects for investment in the region that would be much more difficult to meet on our own. During the November 9-16 mission we met 17 companies with potential for investment in the Detroit Region. We will be following up with these over the next few months to further assess their opportunities and how our economic development efforts might be able to assist them to set up here.
Executive Ficano's efforts have also opened new doors for us with Chinese chambers of commerce and governmental organizations that will lead to new business prospects for us down the road. Partially, as a result of his efforts we now have more than 40 Chinese companies employing people in the Southeast Michigan region.
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Dan Kinkead, Associate & Architect & Sam Lovall, Associate & Landscape Architect
HAMILTON ANDERSON ASSOCIATES
 The Wayne County Trade Mission has given Hamilton Anderson Associates high-level access to significant business and governmental leaders throughout the People's Republic of China. Through meetings, interviews and presentations with many of these influential leaders we have been able to foster meaningful and productive relationships that we are confident will bear fruit down the road.
As a design firm, we have seen many opportunities in which our diverse skills in architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning could be used - both here in China and back in Southeast Michigan. Executive Ficano and his staff have developed an itinerary that also provides us with the flexibility to develop small side meetings and delegations when conditions may warrant them. This is very helpful.
This has been a great opportunity for Hamilton Anderson and we are excited about our future prospects.
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Patrick J. Smithbauer, P.E., LEED AP, Executive Vice President
BEI Associates, Inc.,
Architects & Engineers
The Wayne County China Trade Mission was an outstanding opportunity for BEI Associates to expand our knowledge of the China market.
 We had already been providing Architectural-Engineering design services to Chrysler at the Beijing Jeep Plant and have some Chinese partner relationships already in place. This trip provided us with the ability to solidify some of these existing relationships and to further develop our network of contacts in China. During the trip we visited Wuji, Wuxi, Chongqing, Changchun, and Beijing. We met with mayors, governmental officials and top level Chinese company executives in these cities. Robert Ficano and his staff organized this effort which gave us the ability to meet with a large number of important people in a period of only one week. It would have taken us over a year of diligent effort to have achieved as much interaction if we had been working independently.
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Albert Y. Yu Chang, Warner Norcross & Judd,
Attorney At Law
 I AM VERY IMPRESSED...
I am very impressed with Wayne County's dedication to building relationships in China and its extraordinary ability to work with the private sector. Our law firm deeply appreciates the support that we received from Mr. Ficano, Dr. Birru and their team in furthering our initiatives and developing relationships with our contacts in China.
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Anna Maiuri, Attorney and Counselor, Miller Canfield
THE TRIP WAS AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY...
The trip was an excellent opportunity to explore the potential for building client relationships in China. It also showed that Chinese companies are interested in investing in Michigan and gave us an opportunity to meet those individuals who will need services when they arrive here. The Wayne County staff did an outstanding job of organizing all the details — providing interpreters, transportation and useful itineraries so the participants could concentrate on networking and learning how the Chinese do business. As a first-time visitor to China, Wayne County provided the resources that allowed me to concentrate on networking and learning the nuances of Chinese business culture. While visiting 5 cities across the country in 10 days was challenging, I would have never been able to accomplish so much on my own. Now when I go back, I will be much better prepared.
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DTW Views By Lester Robinson, DTW Director
CHINA’S VAST EMERGING MARKET
 I have recently returned from a Trade mission to China which was organized by the office of Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano.
It was a pleasure to represent the Airport Authority and to explain the virtues of Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Willow Run Airport to Chinese political and business leaders in Nanjing, Chongqing, Beijing and Shanghai. With an excellent aviation location in North America and plenty of runway capacity, our two airports provide an attractive alternative to other US locations for passenger and cargo service. We also discussed the beautiful and efficient McNamara Terminal and the new north terminal to open in 2008. For Chinese businesses considering investing in the United States, these facilities offer many advantages for air transportation services.
I took the opportunity to observe operations at Chinese airports and was quite impressed with how they handled large numbers of passengers. Interestingly, the volume of parking when compared to the number of passengers was smaller than you would find at US airports which underlines the fact that only a small percentage of Chinese citizens own personal vehicles. However, that percentage is now growing rapidly. I noted China’s eagerness to develop relationships with US auto companies and thus with the Detroit region. County Executive Ficano was warmly received.
Nearly 40,000 Chinese live in Michigan and mainland China is Michigan’s second largest export market in Asia. Michigan’s top exports include vehicles and parts, industrial machinery, inorganic chemicals, plastics and electric machinery. Exports from Michigan to mainland China totaled nearly $700 million in 2005, an increase of 252% since 1999.
While China is one of the most ancient civilizations in the world, with 5,000 years of recorded history, it recently has become one of the world’s most rapidly developing markets. China is the single fastest growing automotive market in the world, and business between Michigan (the world leader in automotive research and development) and China is expected to grow tremendously over the coming years. Roughly the same geographical size as the US, China has 21% of the world’s population at 1.3 billion people compared to approximately 300 million in the US.
Detroit’s hub carrier Northwest Airlines has applied with the US Department of Transportation to fly non-stop between Detroit and Shanghai. However, NWA is competing with applications from three other airlines. Continental has applied to fly there from Newark, while United has submitted an application for service from Washington, DC to Beijing and American proposes non-stop service from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Beijing. Detroit and Michigan’s business, cultural and political leaders all support the Northwest route and you can too. Simply click the link at www.metroairport.com to register your support.
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Jerome Hill, Butzel Long Attorney and China Expert
ON TRAVELING WITH WAYNE COUNTY TO CHINA:
 Butzel Long has assisted companies from the U.S., Europe and Asia in establishing and expanding business in China. The firm has strong relationships with leading Chinese law firms and at all levels of the Chinese government.
Jerome Hill, Butzel Long attorney and China expert, said French, German and English companies have already established business associations in China. American firms “are not going to be able to compete” with foreign firms until strong China links are developed, Hill said.
Likewise, Chinese firms need American technology, business associations and workforce expertise in order to succeed globally. Wayne County provides a cross-section of many of the characteristics Chinese businesses are seeking, and that’s why Butzel Long has continued its overseas outreach efforts.
Most trade links between China and Michigan are manufacturing related, but the base is diversifying and growing. Some two dozen Chinese companies have established offices in Michigan.
Hill says Chinese firms are also seeking trade offices in the American south, other Midwestern states and along the west coast, so the competition is keen.
“(You) want to anywhere and everywhere to be a viable competitor,” Hill said.
In 2003, Butzel Long helped in forming the China Alliance, a unique arrangement of four leading independent North American law firms collaborating in the development of their respective China practices. Office facilities in Shanghai and Beijing offer clients on-the-ground capabilities in China's primary business and regulatory centers.
The company’s range of services includes advice and counseling regarding business strategies in China, investment in China, entity formation, access to key decision makers and guidance on resolving business conflicts and disputes.
Dr. Jerome Hill is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School (J.D., 1983). He also has completed additional studies in Chinese Philosophy at the University of Michigan (Ph.D., 1981) and the University of Michigan (M.A., 1974) and Oakland University (B.A., 1970). He speaks Mandarin Chinese.
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Mr. Louis E. James, President
JASCO International
THE WAYNE COUNTRY TRADE MISSION WAS A VENUE THAT GAVE US ACCESS TO NUMEROUS COMPANIES TO PURSUE THOSE EFFORTS.
 JASCO International is a Global Supply Chain Management/Logistics Company with
operations and logistic centers in Romulus, MI with Denso International of America and
in Detroit, MI with Mitsubishi Motors. Our goal in China was to develop a relationship
with the Chinese manufacturers encouraging them to relocate to Wayne County (Detroit).
The relationship building shall be with the Big 3 – Ford Motor Company, General Motors
and Daimler Chrysler and the manufacturers that we met with in China. As a result of the
trade mission, JASCO International was able to meet with over 200 companies and to
gain a competitive edge with worldwide alliances. The efforts of Wayne County and Mr.Ficano during this trade mission are commendable and highly regarded by JASCO
International and the team of local business people who attended. In this competitive
automotive industry, it is very important that local companies seek to do business oversees and the Wayne Country Trade Mission was a venue that gave us access to numerous companies to pursue those efforts.
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Raymond Xu, Advisor, 2003-2005 President,
Detroit Chinese Business Association
DETROIT CHINESE BUSINESS ASSOCIATION IS PROUD TO HAVE A STONG PARTNER, WAYNE COUNTY, IN PROMOTING THE MUTUALLY-BENEFIT BUSINESS EXCHANGES BETWEEN US AND CHINA.
 Wayne County's accomplishment in promoting the business exchange with China is outstanding. The County Executive Mr. Ficano and the Economic Development Office are taking the bold move to stimulate the economic development in southeast Michigan. Two trade missions, three China offices and many meetings with Chinese officials and entrepreneurs certainly put Wayne County in the minds and hearts of Chinese people. The friendship will boost the trade between Michigan and China and attract the inbound investment to Wayne County. We already see that as many as 30 Chinese companies have already opened their office in southeast Michigan.
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William Barber, PhD -
Vice President of Academic Affairs
for Career & Technical Programs,
Henry Ford Community College,
Dearborn, Michigan
HIGHER EDUCATION A KEY IN TRADE
 The Wayne County Trade Mission has enabled us to make important
contacts with higher education institutions in China. We are in the
process of developing cooperation agreements with several institutions.
These agreements will enable our students, faculty, and community
members to better participate in the emerging global economy. The Wayne County Trade office in Chongqing has played a crucial role in assisting us in working with our Chinese partners to attain our goals.
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John W. Carroll, Jr., Executive Director,
Detroit Regional Economic Partnership
WAYNE COUNTY'S EFFORTS TO DEVELOP NEW BUSINESS WITH CHINA ARE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT IN THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE ECONOMY OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN.
The governmental connections they have established, the China offices they have opened and staffed, combined with their trade missions are all very helpful in both bringing new China companies to our region as well as in paving the way for Detroit area companies to do business in China. These activities are clearly bringing new jobs and investment to the Detroit Region. The County's work in China, along with the support of the Detroit Regional Economic Partnership is an excellent example of regional cooperation that is showing results.
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For detailed information, please call (313) 224-0267
or email at: wcgtc@co.wayne.mi.us |
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