Hunan knocks on Houston's door

Scores of business people from China's Hunan province and Texas conducted one-on-one meetings at the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP) to talk business on Monday at the Second Annual Hunan-Houston Business Workshop.

He Jian, chairman of Chinese Council for Promotion of International Trade Hunan Sub-council (CCPIT-Hunan), said his 20-plus member delegation is eager to seek cooperation in high-tech, healthcare and senior living management.

"We have recently established Xiangjiang development zone in Changsha with senior living and healthcare as the major focus. We plan to build six collaborative cancer centers in this zone. We understand that the Texas Medical Center is top-notch in the world, and we are actively engaging them for cooperation possibilities," said He.

He said that 18 companies in various industries are represented in the delegation, and are seeking to buy high-tech products as well as sell products to the US.

This is the second year that Hunan has engages Houston for business opportunities and He said it was just the beginning and they plan to come back next year.

To lay a firm foundation, CCPIT-Hunan signed a memorandum of understanding with local law firm Lai, Corsini and Lapus for cooperation on intellectual property issues in future business dealings.

"We want to make sure that both Chinese and American property rights are protected in the two countries," said He.

The Hunan delegation had visited Cuba and Mexico seeking similar opportunities, as well as collaboration on agriculture, before coming to Houston.

According to Zhou Shengqiao, director of Huanan International Service Center, the US is Hunan's second-largest trading partner with volume reaching $3.6 billion in 2015. "We certainly want to see more of that, of course," Zhou said.

Bob Harvey, president at GHP, a large chamber of commerce serving the 11-county Houston region, welcomed the delegation along with China's Consul General in Houston Li Qiangmin, a Hunan native himself.

According to Harvey, Houston's trade volume with China reached $18.5 billion last year.

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com