State's job is done in China, guv says

With the completion of his weeklong trade mission to China, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Thursday that the state has done all it can to open doors for Utah companies to do business there.

"Once the playing field has been leveled, which is really the job of government negotiators, then the private sector steps in and it's up to them whether or not they're competitive," he said. "I'm not sure we can do much beyond that which we've already done to ensure that."

Speaking to reporters at his monthly news conference on KUED Channel 7, Huntsman said Utah businesses have an unprecedented "opportunity to succeed in what has been an erratic, unpredictable and highly challenging marketplace" because of recent trade agreements.

But even with China's entry into the World Trade Organization becoming final in mid-December, the governor said, there are no guarantees of success. Still, he said, the shear size of the country, which has 1.3 billion people, and its steady economic growth bode well.

China is becoming one of the state's largest export destinations, the governor said, noting $6.5 billion in total exports last year, a 25 percent increase over the previous year.

"As we export, we create jobs on this end," Huntsman said.

While only one of the 19 companies and higher education institutions that sent representatives along on the trade mission, Wencor, signed a joint venture with a Chinese company there, the governor said they all benefited.

They were able to "begin formalizing, deepening, making more meaningful" links to China, he said. "It's going to be a partner for a very long time, and we need to understand it better; we need to develop a level of engagement that is more meaningful."

Huntsman said he hopes to lead another trade mission to China sometime next year, this time focused on higher education. Utah, touted as a destination for Chinese travelers on the trade mission, will send tourism officials to a travel fair in Shanghai in November.

The governor's first trip to the land known as the Middle Kingdom was in 1983, as a White House staff assistant for former President Ronald Reagan. Since then, he said, the economy has changed dramatically.

But politically, he said, there has, sadly, not been much change. The country has changed enough, however, to have been selected as the host of the 2008 Summer Games, an event that Huntsman said will invite scrutiny.

The country "is going to be on display and there for the world to critique and talk about," he said. "That, to my mind, is one of the most important events that will play out in the lives of the Chinese people because they will be evaluated based on international standards."

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