Secretary of Commerce Jim Fain today announced that North Carolina has opened a trade and investment office in Shanghai, effective Jan. 2. It joins six other Commerce overseas offices in Hong Kong, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Germany and Korea. Funding for the office was approved by the General Assembly in July 2008 at the request of Gov. Mike Easley.
North Carolina exports a variety of goods and services to China, including electrical machinery, machinery, and pharmaceutical and wood products. The total value of exports from North Carolina businesses to China through October 2008 was $1.73 billion, according to Global Trade Information Services Inc., a trade-data tracking and analysis firm, making China the state’s second-largest export market. Canada remains the state’s top export partner; China and Canada are followed by Mexico, Japan, Germany and France.
Between 2000 and 2007, the total value of exports from North Carolina businesses to China increased by 405 percent. In addition, many Chinese companies are growing rapidly and developing plans for international expansion and investment.
“China has become a major economic partner for North Carolina businesses and products,” Fain said. “Having an office on mainland China will help our state’s businesses gain further access to the rapidly growing Chinese market. It is important to position the state to benefit from global opportunities, particularly in a challenging economy.”
Marlinda Ma will manage the office, working closely with Commerce’s foreign and U.S. economic developers and trade experts. Ma is an experienced economic developer who most recently served as the trade commissioner, Ontario Section, for the Consulate General of Canada in Shanghai. She also has served in Shanghai as chief trade and investment representative for the Swiss government-Jungfrau region. Ma “has built up a strong network all across China in the years she has lived there,” Fain said.
An office on mainland China will also have a positive impact on the N.C. Ports. “China is the leading trading partner at the Port of Wilmington, where North Carolina business and industry enjoy direct service to the world’s second largest port of Shanghai,” said Thomas J. Eager, chief executive officer for N.C. Ports.
North Carolina has been very cost-conscious and strategic in its decisions regarding overseas offices, Fain noted. “This new office represents the first change in Commerce’s overseas platform since 2000. At that time, the London and Dusseldorf offices were consolidated into a single European office in Frankfurt, and the Dubai office was closed,” he added.