Economic reciprocity highlighted at forum

California and China have maintained a strong partnership, marked by a dynamic economic relationship and deep people-to-people exchanges.

This enduring connection was displayed at the recent China-California Business Forum, where speakers explored potential collaboration, highlighting trade reciprocity between the Golden State and the world's second-largest economy.

In remarks at the forum, Bobby Kotick, founder of Activision Blizzard, emphasized the importance of finding common ground, drawing on his company's two-decade partnership with China.

"Now, we've had our most talented, productive, capable engineers and programmers working in the studio in Shanghai," he said.

"If you look at the experiences that I've witnessed firsthand, there's just nothing but opportunity for growth and continued collaboration."

Of course, the road ahead is not easy for both sides to get caught up in the rhetoric of "division and distrust", he said.

"We should focus on embracing the power of collaboration and finding common ground. We need to focus on trade reciprocity, ensuring that the benefits of our academic partnerships are shared," he said.

Jeff Leader, founder of Hermes Deployment, said there is a "very, very strong" partnership between California and China.

"We've run into difficulties from time to time from both sides, but we have successfully transferred technologies between the US and China. It's difficult, but it's very meaningful," he told China Daily.

Dee Dee Myers, senior adviser to the California governor and director of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, pointed out that while national governments primarily manage international relations, diplomacy should be practiced at all levels, including cities and states.

"California is the fifth-largest economy in the world. So, we need to continue to find ways to leverage that power and use it to help solve our collective challenges," Myers said. "We're really glad to continue to work with our Chinese partners on some critical issues like climate change."

Huge potential

Stephen Cheung, CEO of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, told the audience that China's economy is strong and will continue to grow in the next few years, and there are a number of different sectors in which LA wants to work with China.

"China is the eighth-largest foreign investor in California, primarily in the manufacturing sector. These investments have created 90,000 jobs across the state, with 700 businesses already located throughout California, and have contributed close to $2 billion in wages every single year," Cheung said.

Richard Swanson, senior adviser to the US Department of Commerce's Pacific South Operations of the International Trade Administration, told the audience about the importance of seeing firsthand where one is investing.

"I personally invested in China when I found out that my grandfather studied at Peking Union Medical College in Beijing. When I first visited Beijing and toured the Forbidden City in 2005, I didn't realize how close the college was," he said. "Now I am eager to go back and visit my grandfather's college, hopefully very soon."

Jim Doucette, EY partner and leader of EY's Global Retail and Consumer Products, said in a panel discussion that there is a significant trend in both the US and China, with younger consumers particularly interested in ecofriendly products.

"Chinese consumers are consistently across a pretty broad range of goods and services as they want to spend more than the US consumer," he said. "Middle-class growth in China is expected to continue, presenting essentially strong opportunities in both countries over the next five-plus years."