Bill Stafford says the growing business relationship between the US and China is important, but he adds it could be "a one-way street" if China and the rest of the world don't communicate better. Zhang Yuwei / China Daily

SEATTLE - Within the recent push by city-level and provincial-level leaders from both the United States and China to create investment opportunities, the state of Washington has quickly established itself as the standard of bilateral cooperation.

"International investment is welcomed in Washington state," said state Governor Chris Gregoire. "All laws, regulations, incentives and market opportunities are equally available to domestic and foreign corporations. Foreign companies can conduct business in Washington state on the same basis as a US company."

Since taking office in 2005, Gregoire has made strides to usher in more Chinese investments and has been a strong advocate for a cohesive relationship between the state and China.

Last September, Gregoire led a delegation from 50 different organizations to visit China in what may have been the largest trade mission for the state.

Gregoire's reason for binding Washington and China at the hip is simple: The nation is one of the state's major trading partners. In a report last year by the US-China Business Council, China was the biggest export market - at $10.3 billion - for the state.

Washington, which is home to the headquarters of Boeing, Starbucks and Microsoft, has also become an important tourism destination for Chinese people. Last year, about 35,000 Chinese tourists visited the state, compared to just a few thousand three years ago. By 2012, nearly 100,000 Chinese tourists are expected to visit the state.

The recent construction of a factory in Tianjin by Boeing that will hire nearly 1,000 people by 2013 in the city is just one example of the increasing importance of Washington's partnership with China.

But as a delegation from China of about 80 government officials explores investments in many states across the US as part of the US-China Initiative on City-level Economic Cooperation, many leaders are saying bilateral relations at the city and state level - such as Washington's partnership with China - can help diffuse trade tensions between both countries. Chinese experts see Chinese direct investment to the US as a way to rebalance trade.

Bill Stafford, president of the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, said the growing business relationship between the US and China is important. But he points out it could be "a one-way street" if China and the rest of the world don't communicate better.

"China is growing very quickly. Up till now, China has had an excellent strategy to grow China but it hasn't had much of a strategy to help Europe and US or other parts of the world, except to buy things," he said.

Currently, Chinese companies said they are looking to invest in high technology, information technology, medical devices and clean energy sectors in the state of Washington.

Several Chinese companies have recently set up offices in the state. ISoftStone, a Beijing-based provider of outsourced technology services, acquired Akona Consulting - a business and technology consulting firm headquartered in Seattle - in early 2008.

ISoftStone, which has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since December, currently has 200 employees, most of whom were locally hired from Seattle. It has expanded its US operations and core offerings into business services, such as research, business strategy and interactive design.

China's outbound foreign direct investment is on the rise and will continue to grow, Chinese experts say. China's Ministry of Commerce reported that Chinese companies invested $59 billion in 2010 (up 36.3 percent over 2009).

An Economist Intelligence Unit report forecasts that annual outflows will rise in the coming years, reaching $72 billion by this year.

China Daily

(China Daily 04/20/2011 page15)