Oregon opens up to China's possibilities

The Pacific Northwest state of Oregon is known for its diverse landscape of forests, mountains, farms and beaches. In recent years, the state has stepped up its efforts to lure international investment and tourists, including those from China, to help boost its economy. The St. Paul Rodeo on July 4, for example, is one of the tourist attractions the state offer to travelers from home and abroad. PHOTOS BY CHANG JUN / CHINA DAILY

Chronically dwarfed by its affluent and economically stronger neighboring states, Oregon remained obscure and less lucrative to Chinese investment over the years.

Instead of injecting money into a place where its economy is heavily dependent on fishing, manufacturing, the timbers and inland agriculture, shrewd institutional and individual investors would rather choose high-yielding programs of high-tech components in California or Washington state.

According to New York-based Rhodium Group, the accumulated Chinese investment in Oregon in the past 17 years was $329 million on 10 deals, a moderate sum compared to $27.6 billion in California on 458 deals, and $1.5 billion in Washington on 51 deals.

Currently, China remains Oregon's top trade partner and top source of international students and visitors. Last year, Oregon exported to China $5.8 billion worth of goods, or a total of 36,038, 20-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) containers, according to the Port of Portland. The leading China-bound commodities are hay and animal feed, lumber, metal scrap, frozen potatoes, wood pulp and other general merchandises.

China imported an annual minimum of $240 million worth of Oregon agricultural products.

"The figure is incomplete if you take into consideration that some Oregon-grown or manufactured goods are shipped from ports in Washington or California and aren't counted toward the total," said Gregory Borossay, general manager of trade and cargo development at the port, who in September will join JHJ International Transportation as director of marketing in North America.

Kun Lyu, standing representative of the Qingdao Center for Business & Commerce in the US, which is based in Silicon Valley in California, said Oregon is among the investment destinations the center would least consider.

"Programs and projects under our radar are clustered in California, New York City or Boston," Kun said.

"It's regrettable to see Oregon lagging behind other states, even as it's blessed with the geographical gateway location, abundant natural resources and enticing sceneries, and more importantly, there is no sales tax," said Lan.

In 1984, Lan and his committee facilitated a "sister state" relationship between Oregon and China's Fujian province, unfolding many year-round exchanges between the two.

In 1988, the city of Portland and Suzhou in China's economic powerhouse Jiangsu province sealed sister-city ties.

Portland offered to help develop a sewage system in the 2,500-year-old Suzhou city, famed for its canals, pagodas and traditional gardens. Artisans from Suzhou built the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland's Old Town to open a window into classic China.

Oregon is the first state to pass legislation to promote Chinese Mandarin education at the primary and secondary levels. It has 35 Confucius Classrooms — the highest number of schools in the US that offer Mandarin Chinese classes.

More than 6,000 students have directly benefited from this program, not to mention the families and friends of those students who directly or indirectly learn about China at the same time, said Governor Brown.

Oregon has two Confucius Institutes, one at Portland State University since 2007 and another at the University of Oregon since 2009, in addition to a Chinese Flagship Program initiated in 2005 at the University of Oregon that provides undergraduate students with pathways to professional-level proficiency in Chinese alongside academic majors of their choice.

"They have added a lot to a growing pool of Oregonians who have more understanding of China, both the language and culture," said Brown, adding that "there is no doubt that these programs have helped internationalize the local community a great deal."