Indiana Wants a Bigger Piece of China Pie
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana's secretary of commerce says the state is acccelerating efforts to grow its piece of China's $9 trillion market. Victor Smith recently returned from his second trip this year to the Asian nation. He says Indiana agriculture could be ripe for Chinese investment, as the country looks for ways to feed its population of one billion. Nearly 20 Chinese companies have operations in the state, ranging in scope from advanced manufacturing to engineering. The Chinese presence includes Haier America, which recently announced a $5 million tech center in Evansville that is expected to create 50 jobs. Smith outlined the state's China strategy on this week's edition of Inside INdiana Business Television. Other Chinese companies doing business in Indiana include Westfield Outdoors in Indianapolis, Nanshan America in Lafayette, CIMC Vanguard National Trailer Corp. in Monon and Techtop Motor LHP in Columbus.
Smith recently led a six-member delegation on a jobs mission to China. The trip included visits to Beijing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou. He says the group wanted to showcase Indiana's fiscal strength, skilled work force and research universities.
During the trip, the delegation met with six businesses, five government agencies and hosted two Indiana forums. A total of nearly 400 Chinese officials attended the two events.
Sources: Indiana Economic Development Corp., Inside INdiana Business