The business delegation made up of Clearfield County Commissioners John Sobel and Tony Scotto, along with Clearly Ahead Development staff, Rob Swales, chief executive officer, Paul McCloskey, vice president of energy and business development, and Clearly Ahead Development board chairman, Dave Schultz, have returned to the United States after spending seven days on an international business and trade development mission in China.
The group arrived in Beijing on April 8 and spent the next several days meeting with multiple trade groups and business leaders before journeying south to Lanling County for additional meetings, according to Swales.
The Lanling County outreach also included the formal execution of the sister-county agreement between Clearfield and Lanling counties, he said.
He explained that the sister-county agreement was signed by both sides on April 12 and is the next step for establishing economic and cultural ties between the two counties. Officials hope it will be the catalyst for expanding dialogue and business opportunities for area businesses.
While the United States’ governmental structure is divided into geographical areas of diminishing size beginning with state, county and then city/municipal levels, Swales explained that China’s administrative structure is similarly divided by diminishing size but instead into provinces, cities and finally counties.
Lanling County is one of 12 counties located in the city of Linyi situated in Shandong Province. High-speed rail connects Lanling County to the cities of Beijing in the north and Shanghai in the south.
According to Swales, the affairs of Lanling County are managed by Governor Xue Feng, who was in attendance at a dinner that the delegation attended on April 11, Clearfield County’s first day in Lanling.
The dinner was hosted by Xue’s superior from Linyi City, Director Li Yerong, along with other members of the Lanling County and Linyi City governments. Several business leaders were in attendance at the dinner from multiple facets of industry, he said.
Li presented the delegation with information about the region as a whole, including the local business climate, cultural influences and infrastructure. Near the end of the dinner, Swales said that Li expressed interest in organizing a business delegation from Linyi to visit Clearfield County in the second half of 2016 to learn more about investment opportunities and potential ways the two regions can collaborate.
On the second day in Lanling County, the delegation attended the fourth annual International Vegetable Exhibition hosted by Lanling County. Sobel remarked that: “Lanling County is the vegetable capital of China.
“Their agricultural exposition is like our Clearfield County Fair. It was interesting to see how the two rural counties in two, different parts of the world celebrate agriculture in a similar fashion.”
Later that day, Sobel presented a speech highlighting the assets of Clearfield County to a packed audience of investors looking for opportunities in Lanling County and abroad. Following his speech, Sobel was approached by the president of a local mining company in Lanling and expressed interest in discussing Clearfield County with him in greater detail.
After their time in Lanling County, the delegation made a follow-up visit at the headquarters of a company that had visited Clearfield County in the past while exploring options for a new manufacturing facility, Swales said.
He said that while meeting with the company, the delegation learned more about the company’s plans for U.S. investment and was able to tour their existing manufacturing facility. Following lunch hosted by company officials, the group returned to Beijing.
On the final day in Beijing, the Clearfield County delegation met with the China Petroleum & Petrochemical Engineering Institute (CPPEI), which had also sent a delegation to Clearfield County in September of 2015.
Swales expressed the importance of the visit, stating, “Clearly Ahead has been fostering relationships with multiple foreign-direct investment delegates from all over the world in the past three years.
“We have hosted multiple company site visits with and government delegations from China of recent. The entire week was a critical step to foster growth of these relationships with companies we have been working with during this outreach.
“There are opportunities for business attraction as well as business expansion for our local businesses in Clearfield County.” Following the meetings and lunch with CPPEI, the delegation flew back to the United States on April 14.
When asked whether he thought the benefit to the county outweighed the cost to the county, Sobel reiterated that both he and Scotto had paid for their own travel expenses and that there was no financial burden to Clearfield County.
Sobel further reflected that, “The people of China were very welcoming and very gracious hosts. We learned a lot and had a fascinating experience.” He also added, “Our trip to China is just a beginning. However, it is a beginning of a relationship that has the potential to bring great benefit to Clearfield County. Business after all, is about relationships.”
Clearly Ahead Development will be issuing additional press releases in the future covering further details about the trip along with any developments resulting from this trip, Swales said.
Clearly Ahead Development is a private, non-profit, membership organization proudly serving the community to create growth and opportunity in Clearfield County.