Saint Martin's, Port of Olympia, Economic Development Council team up to offer March business trip to China

Oct. 26, 2005

Lacey, Wash. – Businesses and individuals have an opportunity to begin developing new economic opportunities with China through an upcoming China Business-to-Business Trip. The trip, March 4-12, is being offered by Saint Martin’s University, the Port of Olympia and the Economic Development Council of Thurston County. Endorsing the trip are the Washington China Relations Council; the Washington Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development; the Tacoma Export Assistance Center of U.S. Commercial Service; and the Tacoma World Trade Center.

The trip is a follow-up to a successful 2004 conference, “Doing Business With and In China,” presented at Saint Martin’s by the three trip sponsors and several other state and regional organizations. It will include stops at Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, where participants will meet with a series of U.S. and Washington state organizations, Chinese government officials and Chinese business owners. Among the major benefits of going is the chance to build “guanxi,” the all-important connections vital to doing business with the Chinese. While the trip’s focus will be on business, the itinerary includes cultural and historical excursions to such attractions as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Peking Opera.

Saint Martin’s relationship to China goes back 10 years and includes joint business education programs with Shanghai Maritime University’s Pudong Business College and Wuhan University of Technology and cultural exchanges with Chinese schools. University faculty members regularly teach in China, and the university is a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

The cost of the trip is $5,000 (a tax-deductible business expense) and includes round-trip airfare, travel expenses within China, hotel accommodations, most meals, ground transportation, pre-trip seminars on Chinese language, business, etiquette and culture, medical insurance, visa fee and guided tours. A $500 deposit is due by Dec. 15 and entitles registrants to a pre-trip market analysis report and presentation from the university’s international business class.

For more information, please visit the Saint Martin’s University website, www.stmartin.edu/china. Or call Riley Moore, the university’s director of international business programs, 360-438-4511; Josephine Yung, the university’s dean of international education, 360-438-4375; Michael Cade, the economic council’s executive director, 360 754-6320; or Kari Qvigstad, the port’s director of marketing and trade development, 360-528-8013.

For more information:

Riley Moore, Ph.D.
Director of international business programs
360-438-4511
rmoore@stmartin.edu

Josephine Yung
Dean of international education
360-438-4375
jyung@stmartin.edu

Deanna Partlow
Media coordinator / senior editor
360-438-4541
dpartlow@stmartin.edu