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July 14, 2014

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Home » Business » Biz Special

Virginia woos investments as it seeks closer ties with China

By Wang Yanlin | July 14, 2014, Monday | Print Edition

VIRGINIA Governor Terry McAuliffe said his state was serious about attracting Chinese investment after a major project from China was announced last month.

“Virginia offers a huge amount of business opportunities, and we just secured a milestone greenfield manufacturing project from a Chinese investor,” McAuliffe said in Shanghai over the weekend after visiting Beijing and Shandong Province.

It was McAuliffe’s first international trade mission since taking over as Virginia governor six months ago.

“We came to China first. It is to show our appreciation for the Chinese investor, and our sincerity to expand that success,” McAuliffe said. “Virginia is serious about helping Chinese investors grow business in the US and beyond.”

On June 18, Shandong Tranlin Paper Co Ltd, a Chinese pulp and paper company, announced that it would invest US$2 billion in Virginia over the next five years to establish its manufacturing operations in the US.

The project, which is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs by 2020, represented the largest Chinese private investment in the US.

“An investment of this magnitude shows how Virginia is leading the way in attracting innovative business,” McAuliffe told reporters.

According to Forbes magazine, Virginia ranked among the top as a destination to do business in the US because of its strategic location, relatively low tax, skillful workforce and an efficient government.

Jerry Z Peng, chairman and CEO of Tranlin Inc, Tranlin group’s US entity, said the company chose Virginia out of several other candidates.

“We compared Virginia with some other states, and found it has the most supportive government,” Peng said. “Also, Virginia has very sophisticated transport systems which help to easily cover the major markets in the east coast.”

It was the first overseas expansion for Tranlin, which owns a proprietary technology to produce tree-free, non-chlorine bleached and completely straw paper products made exclusively from organic agricultural field waste such as wheat straw and corn stalks.

Peng received his MBA from Darden School at the University of Virginia — a tie that also cannot be ignored for the establishment of the partnership.

McAuliffe said all businesses are welcome in Virginia, particularly sectors like agriculture, pharmaceutical, bio-science, cyber security and information technology.

The latest data showed that more than 800 foreign companies have invested in Virginia, including nearly 100 from China like China Telecom, China Unicom and Air China.

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