Wang Xiaochun, deputy director-general of Shenzhen Bureau of Trade and Industry (fourth from left) was introduced by Georgia Economic Development Commissioner Ken Stewart (third from left) during a Georgia China Alliance conference on trade opportunities in Shenzhen, China, April 23. Photo by Leigh Miller.

The municipality of Shenzhen, China 's largest exporting center, is considering opening a representative office in either Atlanta or New York , and Wang Xiaochun, deputy director-general of the Shenzhen Bureau of Trade and Industry , said he would encourage Shenzhen companies to invest in Georgia.

Mr. Wang spoke at an April 23 Georgia China Alliance conference on trade opportunities in Shenzhen, the neighboring municipality to Hong Kong in China's Pearl River Delta region.

"Georgia is a good place. The incentive policies are good, the weather is warm and the people are friendly, so we will take that into consideration when researching which is better – New York or Atlanta?" Mr. Wang said of deciding on a third U.S. office location. The bureau currently has an office in Los Angeles and a virtual office in Chicago.

He noted that there are "not yet" any Shenzhen companies with investments in Georgia, but his bureau is working to encourage two-way trade and investment between the regions.

"I will tell them what Atlanta, Ga., is like and push them out here. They will come. They are coming," he said, referring to potential Shenzhen investors in Georgia. He noted that 314 Shenzhen companies have invested $1.17 billion in 88 overseas locations.

In addition to investing in the United States, Shenzhen companies also want to buy technology and equipment from U.S. companies, Mr. Wang said, noting that Shenzhen companies purchased $100 billion of machinery and technology from the U.S. last year.

Shenzhen is a center for high-tech manufacturing, producing 13.6 million personal computers in 2006. It is also a center of innovation, where more than 50 universities cooperate with local and foreign-based companies to commercialize research out of the city's High-Tech Park. Some 220,000 patents were issued last year in Shenzhen, according to Mr. Wang.

Shenzhen was the first city in China to establish a Special Economic Zone in 1980. Since then, the population has grown from 300,000 to 8.3 million and the municipal gross domestic product has grown at 27.8 percent each year to $71.1 billion in 2006. For 14 years, Shenzhen has been China's No. 1 exporting city.

More than 40,000 foreign direct investment projects worth $49 billion have been located in Shenzhen by companies from 90 countries or regions since 1979, Mr. Wang added.

Atlanta-based East West Manufacturing LLC is one of those companies. The firm has a factory in Shenzhen that manufactures some 250 industrial plastics, rubber, electronics and motor products for wholesalers in the U.S. and Europe.

Founded in 2001, the company recently moved its China operations from Hong Kong to Shenzhen because of the ease of setting up an office there, the city's access to three international airports, its central location in the Pearl River Delta manufacturing region, its developed road and rail systems, its proximity to Hong Kong and major seaports, its clean environment and the availability of entrepreneurial engineers, said President and CEO Scott Ellyson.

"Shenzhen is an innovative city that attracts talented people," he said.

Georgia Economic Development Department Commissioner Ken Stewart, who also addressed the conference, likened Atlanta to Shenzhen in terms of attracting young, highly educated professionals, as well as both cities' reputations as logistics hubs.  

Participating in a panel discussion during the conference were Barry J. Chen, manager of mergers and acquisitions for United Parcel Service Inc.; Mr. Ellyson; Penny Chen, marketing manager of Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE) Ltd. in Dallas and Zhang Wei, general manager of international business for Shenzhen Hangsheng Electronics Company Ltd.

Nine Shenzhen companies, led by the Shenzhen Bureau of Trade and Industry, Shenzhen General Chamber of Commerce and Shenzhen Tourism Bureau, attended the conference and had appointments to meet with potential Georgia partners.

The event was organized by the Georgia China Alliance, the Shenzhen Bureau of Trade and Industry and the North American Representative Office of Shenzhen, China .