Tianjin
Report by Norm Jacknis, CIO
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From Shanghai's modern new airport, we flew to Tianjin. Tianjin
is the third largest city in China (after Shanghai
and Beijing) with ten million people. It
has been a major port city and center for commercial
activity for a long time. Because of this
history, it is especially open to global business
relations.
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A significant focus of the trip to Tianjin
was on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical
industries. The first evening, August
28th, we had a dinner meeting with some executives
of pharmaceutical companies in Tianjin. To
the right is County Executive Spano and two owners
of private companies there.
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| The next morning of August 29th was spent
at the Tianjin Hi-Tech Industry Park. As
seen in the picture on the right, the Park's
director Dr. Ren Xue Feng showed County Executive
the plans for the park and discussed the overall
business strategy. He was one of many
people in China who spoke English without translation.
To hear an excerpt of the conversation,
click here.
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The Westchester group and Dr. Ren then moved
to a conference room, where we met with a few
of the biotech companies in the Science Park.
Click here
and here
to listen to two excerpts.
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| We then visited a foreign-Tianjin joint
pharmaceutical venture. This required
the usual uniform for a "clean room,"
as you can see from the picture of County Executive
Spano to the right.
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Next we met with Tianjin Mayor Wang
Shu Zu and Mr. Li Song Ting, director of the
Tianjin Commission of Foreign Economic Relations
and Trade.
Mayor Wang said that the videoconference
we had three and half years ago was the first
time that had ever happened in China and he
was very impressed, so he wanted to be sure
to meet us. (Hear two excerpts by clicking
here
and here.)
He was a very earthy, direct, results-oriented person
and so the meetings with him were particularly
fruitful.
Mr. Li had worked in New York and so was familiar with the County, which
also helped.
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| We met the director of the Chest Hospital
for dinner at the historic Astor Hotel in Tianjin
-- the site of many of the most significant
events in modern Chinese history up to 1950.
The hospital is a specialized facility
in Tianjin and was of interest to the delegation
members from the Westchester
Medical Center, who had also been visiting other
medical facilities.
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Home - Westchester
County China Trade Delegation 2002
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