California pols bring varied goals, common purpose to China trip

Gary Kovacic was impressed by his summer visit to China, an experience that can be useful for a lawmaker in a city where half the population is ethnically Chinese, as are 70 percent of schoolchildren.

The city councilman from Arcadia, California, was one of eight mayors and legislators from Los Angeles County who traveled at the invitation of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the China Association of Mayors. The Southern California officials spent 10 days in June touring Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing.

While Los Angeles is often called America's gateway to Asia, this trip was the first to China for some in the group. Promoting tourism between China and the United States, particularly Southern California, was a focus of the officials' visit.

Laura Rosenthal, mayor of Malibu, said she found the famous beachfront city "incredibly small" upon her return from China. While the tony enclave has a population of about 13,000, its scenic Pacific coastline draws about 15 million tourists annually.

"The great majority of visitors come to the beach during the summer months," Rosenthal explained.

The executive director of Beverly Hills' convention and visitors bureau also was on the trip. Julie Wagner, who said she has hired a Chinese-speaking intern at the agency, brought along brochures about her celebrity-studded city in English and Mandarin.

Manhattan Beach might not be a household name in China, but it is the hometown of the Beach Boys and has been the location for many movies and television shows. It was named by CNN Money as a top destination for the rich and single.

A member of Manhattan Beach's council, Richard Montgomery, who was born and raised in Texas, fell in love with the city when he moved to Southern California 23 years ago. Montgomery had previously visited China five times and served as the leader of the mayors and legislators group.

Not far from Manhattan Beach is Burbank, known as a media hub because of its proximity to Hollywood. Entertainment companies such as Warner Brothers, NBC Universal and Disney are either based there or have significant production operations in the city, including NBC's Tonight Show With Jay Leno.

Burbank councilman Jess Talamantes said his emphasis during the trip was enticing Chinese media and entertainment companies to do business in his city.

Laura Friedman, of the city council in Glendale, had a similar goal. She said hers is the only city in California that doesn't levy a business tax. To attract more companies from China, Friedman said, the city has formed a team to help interested companies free of charge.

Before the summer trip, Friedman made her first visit to China in February in search of a sister city for Glendale. With a large Asian population, Glendale already has sister cities in Japan and South Korea.

Don Knabe, a member of the county Board of Supervisors, represents a district that includes Los Angeles International Airport and the Port of Long Beach. He said China is a natural trading partner for the region, and the officials spent much time with Chinese counterparts discussing ways to encourage bilateral investment.

Although "each city is completely different from the other", as Friedman put it, the trip was an eye-opener for the California group, Rosenthal said. They learned that China and the US face similar problems in environmental protection, infrastructure development and traffic congestion.

"We have had discussions about the bullet train in California," Rosenthal said. "We all had the opportunity to ride the bullet train twice in China. I'm now a big bullet-train proponent."

wangjun@chinadailyusa.com