Savannah sees China as door to new markets

Savannah Morning News:

The sign at the High Tech Industrial Development Zone in Nanchang couldn't have been more welcoming.

But it instantly conveyed how much of a learning curve members of a Savannah delegation still had to navigate as they pursued cultural and business exchanges in the Jiangxi province.

They were welcomed as the city of "Atlanta savannah."

Savannah's trip into central China last month was meant to clearly establish the city's readiness for international trade. Joining the cities of Brunswick and Hinesville, the city leaders explored new business, education and cultural trade. Savannah and Brunswick touted the Georgia Ports' No. 4 position in the U.S. as a ready distribution hub for Chinese products coming in and, increasingly, exports heading out to a growing Chinese middle class.

"We're not Mayberry anymore," Alderman Van Johnson said. "There are people who are saying we want to be a contemporary, cutting edge, international city, and those characteristics include thinking globally, acting locally and forging new relationships. I think history will bear us out. If Brunswick can do it, if Hinesville can do it, we need to be at that table, too."

Officially, the height of the trip centered around the Central China Expo 2010 in Nanchang. Spectators by the thousands flocked to exhibition halls to buy luggage, bamboo towels and jade as well as tour exhibits that showcases the latest advances in electric cars, solar energy, container shipping and renewable energy.

For the Georgia delegations, it also provided an opportunity to forge new relationships. While Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson and a few top city leaders met with the secretary general of the Jiangxi province, Hinesville Mayor James Thomas and Brunswick Mayor Bryan Thompson met with the vice mayor of the neighboring Zhejiang province, which is seeing an annual 30 percent increase in exports. U.S. imports, said vice mayor He Min Wu, have increased 40 percent to his province.

"We would like to import more from the U.S.," Wu said through an interpreter.

As Wu spoke with Thomas and Thompson, a member of his group leafed through a booklet the three cities created. In Chinese, it details the ports and the distribution and transportation facilities the area offers.

 

City of porcelain

The city of Jingdezhen wastes no opportunity to showcase its porcelain, whether in giant, teardrop-shaped sculptures that anchor a traffic circle or from street lights by the dozens that are sheathed in it.

Its history of refining porcelain dates back more than 1,000 years and has made the city internationally recognized.

The Savannah and Hinesville delegations visited the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, which has established student exchanges with the University of West Virginia and other schools. Savannah State and Armstrong Atlantic State universities may explore that possibility, too.

As the Savannah officials explored the history and art behind the porcelain, they got another idea. Could Savannah, which attracts nearly 7 million tourists a year, become a vendor for Jingdezhen porcelain? Even better, could the porcelain artists create unique pieces that would showcase Savannah scenes on vases, platters and other pieces?

For Jingdezhen, it creates a chance at a new market; for Savannah, it creates one more reason for tourists, especially those interested in history, to visit the city.

It was a brainstorm from a nightly debriefing, but one city officials hope to explore.

 

Education, business

In Jiujiang, the task at hand was education. In Nanchang, it was all business.

Jiujiang University officials hope for a formal agreement that will allow up to five exchange students at a time between either SSU or AASU. The easier piece of the agreement will be a faculty exchange program, which would create the quickest impact, educators agreed.

David Carson, vice president of business and finance at Armstrong, and Edward Jolley, vice president of fiscal affairs for Savannah State, will make presentations to their respective schools; Jiujiang officials hope a formal agreement could be signed early next year, when a Chinese delegation is scheduled to visit Savannah.

The industrial visits show promise, too. Meetings in Nanchang with an LED manufacturer, a solar-light company and a firm touting a more efficient transformer were all marked by company officials wanting to enter the U.S. market. Hinesville and Savannah officials will be following up with the companies, and the LED company likely will participate in a pilot project for new highway lighting.

For Carson, the trip underscored how aggressive China is in building its country and engaging the outside world and pursuing partnerships.

He views it as an investment worth pursuing.

"What we have to remember is it takes awhile to plant the seed and watch the crops grow," he said. "It takes time to cultivate a relationship, but it will pay off big when it pays off. If we're not out there and other cities are, we'll be left behind."