Saint Martin’s University, in partnership with the Economic Development Council of Thurston County and the Port of Olympia, is offering business firms and individuals an opportunity to travel to China from March 9 to March 18, 2007 on the China Business Tour.

Why China?
By 2010, the Chinese economy is projected to become the world’s largest. The nation’s economy is the second largest in the world after the United States and has quadrupled its economic growth rate since 1978. Even if you have no intention of doing business with the Chinese, you cannot afford to ignore China, which probably already is impacting your business. Come see our Western neighbor for yourself … there’s no substitute for a site visit.

Background
Saint Martin’s, in partnership with the Economic Development Council of Thurston County, the Port of Olympia and several other state and local organizations, held a highly successful conference, “Doing Business With China, in April 2004. The conference focused on helping small- to medium-sized firms learn more about China and the impact on their bottom line.

Be part of the 2007 business-to-business trip to China
The China Business Trip will change your perspective about China and the global business environment. This trip follows up on the highly successful 2006 trip and builds on the relationships and contracts made during that trip.  During the trip, delegates will be introduced to U.S. and Washington state trade representatives, Chinese government officials and business counterparts.  The itinerary and travel agenda is designed to make the most of your networking potential and help you better understand the potential of business relations in China.  Although the trip's focus will remain on business, you will have an opportunity to see tourist attractions such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.  All of what you hear – the good and bad – is true. Your trip will likely pay for itself many times over by enabling you to get into the game earlier than your competitors or adjust and make business changes in a timely way once you see the changes taking place in your industry in China. Although the trip’s focus will remain on business, you’ll have an opportunity to see tourist attractions such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.

Take advantage of our guanxi
Guanxi, or connections, are everything in China – you cannot conduct business without guanxi. The China Business Trip will provide you with the introductions necessary to evaluate opportunities for your business or organization.

Saint Martin’s University has had an ongoing relationship with China for 10 years. The University has a joint business education program with Shanghai Maritime University’s Pudong Business College and this year, began a similar program with Wuhan University of Technology. Our business faculty members regularly travel to China to teach business courses, as well as to lead annual business study tours for the University’s business and accounting students. A Saint Martin’s University representative with extensive business connections is based full-time in China. The University continues to be mentioned by the Washington State Department of Community and Economic Development as one of the most active Washington academic institutions in China. We are the only academic institution in Washington with an active membership in the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. In addition, Saint Martin’s continues to have a representative on state-level trade missions to China.

We are proud to partner with the Economic Development Council of Thurston County and the Port of Olympia to lead this first business-to-business trip to China, which is tailored to local firms of your size.

Endorsed by
Washington China Relations Council
Washington Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development
Tacoma Export Assistance Center of U.S. Commercial Service
World Trade Center Tacoma

For more information, please contact either:

Michael Cade, executive director
Economic Development Council of Thurston County
(360) 754-6320; execdir@thurstonedc.com

Kari Qvigstad, director of marketing and trade development
Port of Olympia
(360) 528-8013; kariq@portolympia.com

Riley Moore, Ph.D.
Director of International Business Programs
Saint Martin’s University School of Business
(360) 438-4511; rmoore@stmartin.edu

Josephine Yung, Associate Vice President
Saint Martin’s University Office of International Programs and Development
(360) 438-4375; jyung@stmartin.edu