Tuesday, April 1

This morning, Georgia increased its presence as a global destination for business expansion and trade with a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the new Georgia Business Advisory Center in downtown Beijing. About 100 Georgia and Chinese business, education and economic development leaders attended the ceremony to witness Governor Perdue cut the ribbon.

The Center will also help Georgia businesses facilitate export opportunities in China, the world’s most populous country and already a key market for Georgia products and services.

Coupled with China’s growing wealth and international trade strategy, the Center will serve as an important first stop for Georgian and Chinese companies to establish relationships, increase trade and build manufacturing and service headquarters.

China is currently Georgia’s second largest trading partner. Georgia businesses export a wide array of products to China, including paper, agricultural and food products, chemicals and machinery. Several Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Georgia lead the way, including UPS, Coca-Cola and Home Depot. It is clear that China represents a robust business destination for Georgia businesses of all sizes.

Following the ribbon cutting ceremony we enjoyed a lunch hosted by UPS. UPS services over 200 Chinese cities, and I enjoyed this opportunity to help showcase one of our state’s finest companies and its successes in foreign markets.

After lunch we headed about 10 miles outside Beijing to visit the Sany Heavy Industry Company. Sany manufactures a variety of heavy equipment for the building and road construction industries.

Sany is one of Georgia’s newest economic development success stories. The company is constructing its first North American plant in Peachtree City, which will employ 600 people over the next ten years. We met with Sany executives and were invited to take a close-up look at one of the company’s cement pouring trucks.

We closed out the day with a celebration dinner, hosted by Coca-Cola, to mark the opening of the Georgia Business Advisory Center. All of the members of the Georgia delegation attended.  The dinner was also an opportunity for Governor Perdue to thank several of the key people who were instrumental in establishing the Center.

The evening concluded with a phenomenal performance by the University of Georgia Jazz Band.