China, U.S. businesses hoping for synergy

BYLINE: Cara Baruzzi, New Haven Register, Conn.

Mar. 24--NEW HAVEN -- In an economy that is becoming increasingly global, the Chinese business community is poised and willing to form stronger alliances with A m e r i c a n c o m p a n i e s , according to Chinese leaders who visited Yale University Friday.

"There's a great opportunity for the U.S. and China to cooperate for business success," Hai Song, vice governor of China's Guangdong Province, said through a translator.

He was a keynote speaker at "U.S.-China Forum 2007," a daylong event that examined the benefits and challenges of globalization.

The business climate in China, and particularly in Guangdong, its fastest-growing province, is much stronger than many Americans realize, he said.

"It has a good financial infrastructure," Hai told a crowd of about 100 gathered at Yale's Woolsey Hall. "One of the concerns of U.S. companies is the financial structure and health of the province. Guangdong is a good place for you to invest."

Last year, the province's gross domestic product was $325 billion, or 12.5 percent of the nation's total. Guangdong also generated $527 billion from importing and exporting, or 30 percent of China's total, and garnered $177 billion in foreign investment, 25 percent of the national total, he said.

Nationwide, China has seen venture capital investment grow in recent years, up to $1.8 billion in 2006. But there still is room for growth, and Guangdong entrepreneurs continue to seek capital in many areas, particularly information technology, biotechnology, environmental protection, energy and agriculture, Hai said.

Attendees at Friday's forum spent the day learning about China's economic structure and business climate in a series of workshops and seminars. Leadership and globalization, discovery and innovation, and intellectual property protection were among the topics discussed.

It was the first time the event was held, and it was sponsored by the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, the Association of Chinese Students & Scholars at Yale, the Chinese Culture Center of Connecticut and the World Affairs Council of Connecticut.

"My objective is to learn how we could sell products to China," said forum attendee Reza Khani, vice president of operations at Fast, a Stratford company that makes electronic controllers for appliances used by large fast-food chains. "We'd like to penetrate that market and expand our business."

While there is much for American businessmen to learn about China, there perhaps is even more the Chinese can learn from U.S. companies, said Ju Jin, minister counselor for science and technology for the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States, who also was a keynote speaker.

Americans place a higher priority on science, technology, research and innovation than their Chinese counterparts, he said. Though China has increased the number of scientific research papers it produces by 30 percent each year, that number is still dwarfed by the number of published American studies, Ju said.

"We're trying to decrease our dependence on foreign technology," he said, naming technological innovation as another of China's weaknesses that businesses are aiming to improve upon.

"China continues to learn from the United States in all aspects," he said.

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