Meade Spotts Visited Beijing, Shanghai and Ningbo, China as a Delegate to the Commonwealth's China Trade Mission, June 2004
June, 2004 - Meade A. Spotts, President of Spotts Fain, spent part of June visiting several cities in China as a Delegate to Governor Warner's China Trade Mission. "It would not be an understatement to say that in an attempt to understand the culture and business climate of the country, the mission packed in as many events as humanly possible during the trip," said Spotts upon his return to Virginia. "The inclusion of Beijing, Shanghai and Ningbo in the itinerary provided as good an exposure as could possibly have been accomplished in one week."
More than 65 business, state and local government officials traveled with the Governor last month. The trip, described by Governor Warner as "a trip to increase travel, trade and tourism with China" resulted in several new economic opportunities even before the mission was complete. Among the trade deals announced during the nine-day trip were the opening of an office for the Henrico County Economic Development Authority, the first of its kind. The governor also announced that Virginia International Terminals had reached a new three-year contract with China Shipping Lines. According to Ellen Qualls, the governor's press secretary, China is now the Commonwealth's fifth largest export destination, exporting more than $521 million worth of machinery, timber and tobacco last year, an increase of about 41% over the previous year.
Spotts Fain's Chinese clients currently include a manufacturer and a computer software company. James Xu, Ting Xu and Frank Qiu of Evergreen Enterprises provided the mission with essential local support in arranging conferences with local business and government leaders. As a result of Spotts' participation, the firm will assist with a project in China involving Virginia USA technology and will also provide advice to a Virginia company that will potentially be exporting several million dollars of products to China monthly.
