|
|
|
NEWS RELEASE
Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen OLYMPIA — Lt. Gov. Brad Owen will depart April 1 for a 10-day goodwill mission to the People’s Republic of China, his fourth trip to promote trade and cultural exchanges with the world’s most populous nation on behalf of Washington state. Owen will meet with government officials in Beijing, China’s capital city in the northeast part of China, as well as in the cities of Chengdu and Mianyang in the Sichuan Province in the south central area. While in Beijing the lieutenant governor will personally deliver a letter of welcome to the office of President Hu Jintao, who will visit the Puget Sound area on April 18 and 19 on his way to Washington, D.C. Owen does not expect to meet directly with Hu while in China. Washington and Sichuan established a sister state/province relationship in 1982. While in Chengdu, Owen will sign as a witness a memorandum of understanding that supports frequent, bilateral cultural exchanges of visiting performances or exhibitions between the two jurisdictions through 2010. The memorandum is between the Washington-Sichuan Friendship Association and the Sichuan Provincial Cultural Bureau. Owen will also join Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma and a delegation of Tacoma civic and business leaders in Mianyang for the signing of a friendship agreement between those two cities. The lieutenant governor helped to lay the groundwork for that relationship during his previous visit to China. Mianyang, with a population of 5.2 million, is the second largest city in the Sichuan province after Chengdu. To further the friendship agreement effort, Owen also will lend his support to Tacoma’s Chinese Reconciliation Project, which includes a new park being built along the city’s waterfront as a civic gesture aimed at resolving any lingering resentments over the city’s expulsion of 600 Chinese immigrants in 1885. Several members of the reconciliation project are a part of the Tacoma delegation. “The ties between Washington state and China are becoming stronger every year, and that’s why it’s so important to keep up the face-to-face contact with our established friends there and continue to build new friendships too,” Owen said. “These trips pay dividends for our state in many ways and are critical to maintaining our already highly successful trade relationship.” Washington state exports to China increased by 64 percent to more than $5 billion last year. In addition to his official meetings, Owen will also visit a Chinese factory and a primary school. The mission is co-organized by the Washington State-Sichuan Province Friendship Association, a not-for-profit dedicated to promotion of international cooperation in cultural, economic and educational endeavors between the state and the province. The mission is being funded primarily through the association. Updates on the trip will be posted during the trip on the lieutenant governor’s Web site at http://www.ltgov.wa.gov ### For more information contact:
Brian
Dirks
|
|
