The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
61°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

NIC, CdA to lead China trade mission

From staff reports

North Idaho College and the Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber of Commerce will lead a trade mission to China in May, aimed at small and medium-sized companies.

“This is an opportunity for area businesses to actually look at the possibilities of doing business in China,” said Jonathan Coe, chamber manager.

The nine-day tour includes travel to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and meetings with business and government officials. The cost is $3,700 per person.

China is the U.S.’s third-largest trading partner, and the world’s fastest growing economy. Local companies with Chinese clients include Jacklin Seed, which has sold grass seed to China for years, and Sunshine Minting, which landed Chinese customers after participating in a state trade mission two years ago.

“Most small companies don’t think of this as a market they could conceivably tap,” Coe said. However, “there’s no reason other area businesses can’t do it.”

NIC’s Workforce Training Center generates about $50,000 to $70,000 worth of business in China each year, providing training for Chinese nationals who work at international companies there. Vern Jenkins, who heads the customized training program, is fluent in Mandarin and spent seven years working in China.

In addition to selling goods and materials to Chinese firms, Jenkins said there’s a parallel market for providing goods and services to international firms in the country.

The chamber and NIC will present a Sept. 17 seminar, “Doing Business in China,” to give people an overview of the country’s economy. One of the speakers is Michael Million, director of a Hong Kong-based company called The China Solution. Million, who lives in Coeur d’Alene, helps U.S. firms set up manufacturing facilities in China.

The seminar’s cost is $45 for those who register before Sept. 10 or $55 at the door.

The three-hour seminar starts at 9 a.m. at NIC’s Workforce Training Center, 525 W. Clearwater Loop in Post Falls.

For more information on the seminar or trade mission, call (208) 769-7732.