MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty pushes for more trade with China

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Gov. Tim Pawlenty expressed his intention last Friday for Minnesota to forge greater economic and cultural ties with China.

The governor spent time with China’s new ambassador to the United States, Zhou Wenzhong, at a series of events, including a breakfast, radio show and World Trade Week luncheon.

Pawlenty said a decision has been made to “realign resources in Minnesota to put a particular emphasis on our relationship and dealings with China.” The governor’s initiative is called the Minnesota-China Partnership.

The Pawlenty administration plans to lead a trade mission to China in November. Original estimates were for 100 companies to travel to China. But more than 300 applications have been received by the state Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), demonstrating an interest from many of the state’s business sectors.

“This may very well be the largest trade delegation from an individual state to China in our country’s history, much less Minnesota’s,” said Matt Kramer, commissioner of DEED.

Kramer said the steel industry in Minnesota already has a link to China. Chinese steel company Laiwu Steel Group is a part-owner of the former Eveleth Taconite Co. on the Iron Range, which is now called United Taconite. A steel delegation will look at how iron ore resources from Minnesota can be marketed to China. Information technology, agriculture and renewable energy are also groups that are part of the trade mission, Kramer said.

China is home to more than 1 billion people, with 800 million living in rural areas and more than 300 million people in urban centers.

Along with India, China is coming on strong in the global commerce marketplace. China manufacturing companies can pay employees less to produce goods such as textiles and vehicles with great efficiency. American companies in search of greater efficiencies and lower production costs have “outsourced” jobs to China in recent years. The trend has caused stress in American communities hit with job losses.

Zhou said, however, that China’s huge economy is interested in buying as well as producing in the global marketplace.

“Chinese foreign trade is basically balanced. That is to say, we export but we also import. … The domestic demand will grow. I think that the next priority is how to generate sufficient domestic demand,” Zhou said on Pawlenty’s radio show on WCCO-AM.

On the Chinese political situation, Zhou said his country supports the resumption of the six-party talks in dealing with North Korea’s nuclear weapon program. He also said Beijing is busy with construction projects in advance of the 2008 Olympics.

Zhou was appointed ambassador last month. His visit to Minnesota, as part of World Trade Week, was his first trip outside Washington, D.C., as ambassador.

Previously, Zhou was China’s vice minister of foreign affairs and an ambassador to Australia from 1998 to 2001. Earlier in his career, he was consul-general in Los Angeles from 1994 to 1995 and deputy consul-general in San Francisco from 1987 to 1990.

Zhou gave the keynote address at the World Trade Week luncheon, which capped off a week of events sponsored by the Minnesota Trade Office.

Events were held throughout the week dealing with the intricacies of doing business in China, marketing products and services in China, and complying with Chinese regulations.