Deborah Knutson first went 22 years ago. For John Mohr, it’s been 25. Ditto for Bob Anderson, but he’s been there seven times.
What we’re talking about is China.
Knutson, Mohr and Anderson were among a Snohomish County contingent that just returned from a trade trip to Beijing and to three Chinese port cities, Tianjin, Dalian and Qingdao.
The trip, arranged by the Seattle Trade Development Alliance and the state’s China Relations Council, also included the City of Everett’s Lainie McMullin, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon and Snohomish County Council member John Koster.
I talked with Knutson and Mohr and found they were both overwhelmed with how the country had changed since their last visit.
Knutson, president of the Snohomish County Economic Development Council, remembers visiting the country with her husband years ago and seeing a sea of bicycles, a smattering of cars made in Russia and donkeys pulling carts.
On her recent visit, she saw thousands of cars, a lot of high-rise buildings, and universities that seem to have been built overnight.
“You really start believing in the force of the economy,” she said. “They’re very proud of what they’re doing. It really was pretty amazing.”
Mohr, executive director of the Port of Everett, had much the same impression.
“The major difference is that instead of thousands of bicycles there are big numbers of cars,” he said. “They really focus on transporting people and getting people around.”
Mohr was impressed at the cleanliness he saw at the various ports, with lines painted on the asphalt and everything in its place.
“They even cover the cargo so there’s no dust on it,” he said. “They’re using the most current technology they can afford.”
Each of the three ports Mohr visited were “bigger than Seattle and Tacoma put together,” he said. He joined officials from those local ports for joint sales calls in which Seattle and Tacoma pushed their container facilities as a gateway to the Northwest, and he promoted Everett’s niche as a handler of bulk cargo.
Mohr noted that Everett now receives a lot of cement from China, but not much else. He plans to work on that. He also would like to see his port spiffed up. “We want to focus on that as we go forward,” he said of creating a cleaner and better-looking port.
Knutson walked away with a much better sense of what China is pushing for with all its economic might. And it’s not just “plastic consumer goods,” she said.
She said the country is “building universities left and right” and clearly wants to be a major manufacturer of sophisticated goods.
Anderson, a former mayor of Everett and state trade official who is now the county’s trade adviser, called the China visit “a very good trip.”
He said the port officials renewed some relationships and began some new ones.
The group was invited to visit the city of Xian, but couldn’t fit the trip into its already full itinerary.
A delegation of technicians from that community, which manufactures aircraft components, will be visiting Snohomish County for four days starting on Oct. 26, Anderson said.
“That’s the way things start,” he said of doing business with China. “That illustrates how things begin. We planted some seeds and they will take a while to germinate.”
He called the upcoming meeting with Xian manufacturers a “sidebar bonus on the trip.”
“It’s definitely something we can work on,” he said.
Anderson noted that during the 25 years he’s been visiting the country, it’s clear that it’s economic development is “going full tilt.”
“They’re selling,” he said. “The name of the game is employment.”
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@heraldnet.com.
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