Spring 2007 China Mission Itinerary (日程)

March 20 – March 21: Beijing, Chaoyang District "Introducing the Southeast of the U.S." seminar and reception

March 22 - Tianjin

March 23 - Jinan, Shandong Province

March 24 - Changsha, Hunan Province

March 25-27 - Shanghai "Introducing the Southeast of the U.S." seminar and reception.

March 28 - Suzhou, Jiangsu Province

March 29-30 -Ningbo, Zhejiang Province

Womble China Delegation Sweeps Many Provinces in China

During the last eight days, the Womble China Delegation has met with many business leaders and government officials through out several provinces and municipalities in the east crescent of China, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Hunan and Jiangsu. Many of these business leaders and government officials confirmed Womble's belief that Chinese companies are willing, capable and ready to expand their business to the U.S. and that the Chinese government is encouraging this expansion. One of the companies we met came to the meeting with a list of questions. A seminar hosted by the Delegation in Shanghai to introduce the SE and the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. attracted more than 130 Chinese business & government leaders, who packed the conference room making it literally a standing room only event. The enthusiasm we saw about the U.S. was everywhere. Many of the companies we met had specific plans for the U.S. market. Intellectual property protection is a topic that comes up in almost every meeting. Chinese companies are no longer focusing only on attracting foreign capital. They are eager to learn from the U.S. about management, process, new concepts, new technology and services.

The trip has been an eye opening experience for the Delegation. We are awed by the level of maturity of many of the companies we met, encouraged by the current economic policies in China and delighted by people's enthusiasm about the U.S. We have also been introduced to many delicious Chinese foods, including some that we ate solely out of respect for our Chinese hosts, such as the goose feet we had in Suzhou.

China Mission Photo Gallery (click to enlarge each photo)

Womble Carlyle Delegation Visits Tianjin

Womble's China Delegation spent its second day in China in Tianjin. The delegation visited the Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone and Green World Group. The group also toured the Tianjin Airport Industrial Park. The day ended with wonderful banquet hosted by the Deputy Director of Tianjin Commission of Commerce at a hotel where President Hoover had stayed before he became president. Both the Free Trade Zone and the Industrial Park were very impressive projects. According to the Deputy Director, 100 of the Fortune 500 companies have set up operations in Tianjin, with many of them in the Free Trade Zone or the Industrial Park.

Womble Carlyle China Delegation Kicks Off First Day with a Bang

Womble Carlyle's China Delegation arrived in Beijing, China safely on March 20, 2007. The Delegation kicked off its first day of the China Mission with a visit to the U.S. Embassy Commercial Service. Commercial Officers Sarh E. Kemp, Elizabeth Shieh and Patrick L. Chow briefed the Delegation about the economic environment in China and described the services Commercial Service provides to U.S. companies. Following this meeting, the Delegation visited Lenovo's Beijing Plant and NucTech Company Ltd., a Chinese technology company, and met with China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products. The day ended with a successful Presentation/Reception hosted by the Delegation to introduce the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States.

Womble Carlyle Organizes Its First Ever Business Tour of China; Former N.C. Governor James Hunt to Lead Delegation

In 2006, China surpassed Mexico as the United States’ second-largest trading partner, trailing only Canada. China’s rapid economic growth in heavy manufacturing, agriculture and service industries means American companies will become even more connected with their Chinese counterparts in the years to come.

Womble Carlyle is meeting this trend head-on. The firm is taking the extraordinary and aggressive step of sending a team of attorneys on a two-week business tour of China.

The nine-member delegation, which includes lawyers from across the South Atlantic region, will meet with Chinese business leaders, including officials from U.S.-owned industries in China, as well as executives from Chinese companies operating in America. The goal is to improve relations with Chinese industry and foster client development in the world’s most populous nation.

In addition, the team will discuss business opportunities for Chinese companies in the South Atlantic region, which potentially could bring jobs and investment to the area.

Former four-term North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt will be leading the delegation. Gov. Hunt has been a long-time champion of improving U.S. relations with Asia. As governor, he recruited the first Japanese companies to build facilities in North Carolina nearly 30 years ago. His contacts in the Far East were instrumental in putting this trip together.

"We want to discover ways to serve these companies more effectively," Gov. Hunt said. "This is a groundbreaking trip for our law firm."

The Womble Carlyle attorneys will meet with executives from Chinese industry, current Womble Carlyle clients, attorneys from Chinese law firms and American and Chinese government officials. The itinerary includes meetings with the Ningbo Foreign Affairs Office, the American Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Commercial Service, the Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone and the Jiangsu Province’s Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. The Georgia-China Alliance, the North Carolina China Center and the North Carolina Department of Commerce assisted the firm in setting up various business meetings.

The firm also will host two "Doing Business in the Southeast" seminars for Chinese businesses during the two-week tour—one in Beijing and one in Shanghai. In addition, attorney Randy Hanson will be speaking at the Zsoft Outsourcing Summit, an international meeting of software companies, in Beijing.

Guanming Fang, a corporate and securities and economic development attorney in the firm’s Atlanta office, also will participate in the two-week tour. Guanming was born and raised in China and speaks fluent Mandarin and Cantonese.

The delegation also includes attorneys John Hunter, Ed Miller, Kirk Watkins, Rory Whelehan, Jim Kearney and Zion Levi.

Meetings are scheduled in seven Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tianjin, Jinan, Suzhou and Ningbo.