Abbotsford delegation reports from China

An Abbotsford delegation that has travelled to Beijing to pursue local business opportunities has already seen the potential for trade links between the Fraser Valley and China, according to one of the city hall representatives who is on the trip.

Despite only arriving in China on Friday, economic development manager Jay Teichroeb said the group has already established that the “door is open” when it comes to Abbotsford businesses forging relationships with their counterparts in East Asia.

Having spent 15 hours on a plane, Teichroeb said the Abbotsford delegation only had half an hour to prepare for a meeting with a group from the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area.

Nantong was one of the first areas to open up for foreign trade in 1984, Teichroeb explained, describing the investment by foreigners since then as “amazing.”

“This is a very entrepreneurial and enterprising region looking to do business. They are looking for investment in tourism, education and a variety of textile and manufacturing sectors,” Teichroeb wrote in an internet blog, which can be viewed by the public.

“Abbotsford-based companies can find opportunities here. Nantong is a port city of 7.7 million people and is close to Shanghai. The door is open for us to pursue opportunities to bring Nantong investment to our city and for Abbotsford companies to pursue business in this region.”

Also on the week-long trip from Abbotsford are city councillor and deputy mayor Patricia Ross, Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce executive director David Hull, Wolfgang Lehman from the Shefield group of companies, and Tourism Abbotsford executive director Dan Stefanson.

The group has reported humid temperatures in the region of 28C, and while Ross said the air pollution seems “extreme,” she has been told by locals that the conditions are in the average range.

Stefanson said his first impression of China is “hard to describe.”

“It truly is something that must be experienced to be believed,” he wrote in his blog entry.

“I guess the best way to describe it is that everything is created on a much bigger scale than what is typical even in the largest Canadian cities. The Beijing Airport is a newly built engineering marvel that surely is one of the largest single roof span buildings that I have ever been in.”

The Abbotsford delegation has travelled to Beijing as part of the provincial government’s Linx B.C. program, which is aimed at linking communities in B.C. with contacts in China before the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Representatives from Kelowna, North Peace, Nanaimo, Osoyoos and Cowichan are also on the trip.

The daily blog from the Abbotsford delegation can be viewed by the public at www.cityinthecountry.ca/beijing/.