SHANGHAI — He may have been wearing running shorts, but Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. was ready to deal Thursday shortly after arriving on the last stop for his weeklong trade mission to China.

While jogging around a city park, the governor spotted an elderly street vendor selling what was likely "jiade" or fake brand-name merchandise and decided to buy two pairs of socks.

But Huntsman said the vendor eyed the foreigner "with white legs" suspiciously, carefully checking the Chinese currency he offered to make sure it wasn't counterfeit.

The governor, who speaks fluent Mandarin, said he told her, "Look at me. Do I look like I'm trying to take advantage of you?" She still wasn't convinced.

Eventually, Huntsman ended up giving the vendor much more than the approximately $1.25 she was asking for, calling the extra renminbi a tip. "She was good," the governor said. "She worked so hard."

Huntsman is heading a delegation of Utah-based businesses and institutions of higher education through two Chinese cities to help them better understand a market of 1.3 billion people who themselves are still learning the ways of free enterprise.

"You just can't roll in and expect to do business," the governor told an audience at an AmCham (American Chamber of Commerce) reception Thursday evening, advising them to become aware of "the nuances of the marketplace. China is a very nuanced market."

Utah, of course, is not the only state interested in doing business here. Ken Jarrett, consul general at the U.S. consulate in Shanghai, said some 10 governors have brought trade missions through the city in the past year, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"There is competition. The economy in China is booming. It's natural for state governors to look for opportunities here," Jarrett said. Utah "may not be a New York or a California, but I think it is still quite well known."

Jarrett knows Utah's governor from his days as the U.S. ambassador to Singapore and later as a U.S. trade representative in Asia who helped negotiate agreements with China. He accompanied Huntsman to a meeting with Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng earlier Thursday, where the delegation was told by the mayor they'd "be impressed with the openness and the vigor of the city."

Shanghai is China's largest city and its economic capital. Some 20 million people are crowded into the neon-lit port city where many of the nation's economic reforms began. Since the 1990s, the mayor said, Shanghai has been opening up its markets to the world.

Han is a key figure in Chinese politics, especially since several of the country's presidents have been mayor of this city. Han is also the region's Communist Party leader. "That's a big deal, to be able to see the mayor of Shanghai," Huntsman said, describing him as almost a head of state. "Shanghai is like its own orbit politically and economically. It's almost its own autonomous region."

Bryant Eggett, administrative general manager of Tahitian Noni Beverages' Shanghai office, took the opportunity to have his photo taken with Han. "It's just showing people our company's able to meet with key leaders," Eggett said. "It just gives us more credibility with the Chinese."

Huntsman arrived with the delegation in Shanghai Thursday after spending three days in the Chinese capital of Beijing. He will address students at Shanghai Normal University today and is scheduled to return to Utah on Sunday.

---

E-mail: lisa@desnews.com