OLYMPIA, Wa - Continued enthusiasm is what distinguishes the state of Washington - the dynamic commercial and high-tech hub of the Pacific Northwest - from others in its bilateral exchanges and trade with China, local business and political leaders said recently.

"A huge variety of industries from Washington state have been doing business in China," said Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed. In fact, Reed said, the state's trade with China dates "as far back as the mid-1850s". After the opening-up of China in 1979, the first Chinese ship to visit the US docked at the Port of Seattle, he added.

"When a bilateral relationship is set up, people are usually very enthusiastic at first," Reed said, but "in a few years, it just wears off. After a while, there are no more exchanges".

That is not the case with Washington state, which is home to giant multinationals such as Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks Coffee and Amazon. "Ours continues to be very active since we started in the early 1980s," Reed said.

As Washington state's largest trading partner, China imported nearly $6 billion worth of products and services last year, ranging from Boeing aircraft and equipment to agricultural produce from central and east Washington, to high technology.

Reed said he is convinced that grassroots contact is key to the development of trade, culture and investments between China and Washington. He has led six trade and cultural missions to China and receives Chinese delegations on a regular basis.

"We have one of the most successful sister-state relationships in the world," Reed said of his home state and Southwest China's Sichuan province. Since 1982, there have been constant bilateral exchanges, "especially between the young people" and the business communities, he said.

Besides exporting to China, Washington also strives to attract Chinese investors to set up companies and create local jobs, said Bill Stafford, president of the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, who first visited China in 1985, two years after Seattle and Chongqing established a sister-city relationship. Since then, he has led numerous trade missions to China and hosted business delegations from China.

Several Chinese companies have established offices in Washington state, among them ISoftStone, a Beijing-based provider of outsourced technology services. ISoftStone acquired Akona Consulting, a business and technology consulting firm headquartered in Seattle, in 2008. According to ISoftStone Senior Vice-President Anders Brown, this kind of acquisition is advantageous for both sides.

ISoftStone now has 10,000 employees globally and 200 in Seattle, and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange last December.

Marilyn Strickland, the mayor of Tacoma, made her first China trip last February "to promote Tacoma as a good place for investment and education".

Tacoma has to compete with Vancouver, Canada, one of the most favorable investment destinations for the Chinese business community, she said. "We are an international, open and very friendly city," she said, adding that most Chinese already know her city for at least one reason - Almond Roca.

Zhang Yuwei contributed to this story.

China Daily

(China Daily 05/06/2011 page1)