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US ‘Silicon Forest’ woos Chinese investors

By Han Shasha (People's Daily Online)    19:30, March 25, 2016

Yang Yihang, Economic and Commercial Counselor with Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco delivers a keynote speech at the 6th annual Oregon China Economic Forum in Portland, Oregon on March 24, 2016. (People's Daily Online/Han Shasha)

Portland, Mar. 24, ——“Why I am involved in this meeting today is that I believe there is a great opportunity in all fields of trades between two countries,” said Mike McArthur, executive director of Association of Oregon Counties at the 6th annual Oregon China Economic Forum held in Portland, Oregon on Thursday.

Yang Yihang, Economic and Commercial Counselor with Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, said that in 2015, the trade volume between Oregon and China reached 7.4 billion US dollars, making China the largest export market and the second largest source of import of Oregon. Especially on Oregon exports to China, it made a growth of 13%, comparing with the Oregon exports to the whole world, which decreased by 4%.

McArthur told the attendees that Portland has great agriculture, technology and education resources. Bobby Lee, Portland Metro Regional Solutions Coordinator of Oregon Governor’s Office also introduced that Portland has great advantages in farm, software, clean energy and other industries. He said that Chinese workers contributed a lot in designing and building the city in the19th century.

Yang said in his keynote speech that “Today we also need to keep the pioneer spirit to explore the huge potentials of Oregon-China business cooperation.”

Lan Jin, president of the Oregon China Sister State Relations Council, told the reporter that Oregon has friendly ties with China. Besides, there is no sales tax in the state, which adds its glamor to Chinese consumers and enterprises. “Eight county commissioners and two local mayors attended this year’s event,” he said “It’s the first time that those commissioners were present at the forum.” 

More investments bring more job creations and taxes for local economy. Ed Sun, general manager of USZCN, a logistic company founded and operated in Portland in 2011, said that the company now has about 100 employees. The company opened another two offices in Los Angels and Seattle in 2015. 

According to Counselor Yang, Oregon had established 2 sister province-state relations with Fujian and Tianjin. Li Jianning, Chief representative of Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area US Office (TEDA), flew from Chicago to attend the forum and introduced business opportunities for startups in TEDA. He said that TEDA is the best development destination in China with low-cost and high-quality start-up office spaces, R&D supporting services, public services platforms, support for intellectual property rights, as well as other preferential policies for worldwide companies. “TEDA is the gateway to Beijing and Tianjin. It is dedicated to becoming a leader in developing high-end industries,” Li said that “I hope we could have more cooperations between two ports.”

With the joint efforts from both sides, direct investment from China to Oregon has reached 200 million US dollars since 2000. In 2014, over 60 thousand Chinese travelers visited Oregon, which is the largest overseas market for Oregon (except Canada).

“However, Oregon is still not a hot word in China. People talk about Silicon Valley, about California or San Francisco or Seattle, but not Silicon Forest, not Oregon nor Portland. We need to do more to further promote the potentials of Oregon and China business cooperation,” said Yang.

Martha Schrader, Clackamas County Commissioner said that they will continue their efforts to brand local advantages to attract investors and improve local economy. 

“Silicon Forest” is a nickname for the cluster of high-tech companies located in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. The name is analogous to Silicon Valley. In the greater Portland area, these companies have traditionally specialized in hardware — specifically test-and-measurement equipment, computer chips and electronic displays. 

Mike McArthur, executive director of Association of Oregon Counties attends the 6th annual Oregon China Economic Forum in Portland, Oregon March 24, 2016. (People's Daily Online/Han Shasha)

Lan Jin, president of the Oregon China Sister State Relations Council said that Oregon and China have formed friendly relationships during the past years. (People's Daily Online/Han Shasha)

(For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook)(Editor:Ma Xiaochun,Wu Chengliang)

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