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South Carolina's Exports to China Surge

Submitted by: John Warner on Feb 25, 2006 at 3:16 am Tagged with: Miscellany Source:

South Carolina's Exports to China Surge South Carolina's Exports to China Surge
Commerce's Export Service to be offered in China this May

Columbia, SC—Just 25 years after adopting economic reform policies in the late 1970s, China is now a major contributor to global economic growth and second only to the United States as an importer of foreign goods. To help South Carolina businesses benefit from China’s voracious demand for foreign goods, the S.C. Department of Commerce’s Export Development Office will provide its popular China Export Service to South Carolina companies in China from May 15 through June 2.

China imported more than $800 billion in goods in 2005, a 15% increase over 2004 figures. China surpassed Germany to become the world’s second-largest importing nation last year and could surpass the U.S. as the world’s leading consumer of foreign goods in the next decade. To put China’s purchasing power in perspective, last year China imported two and half times more goods than India, Russia and Brazil combined.

This demand means new growth opportunities for Palmetto State companies. China is now South Carolina’s fifth-largest export destination. The state’s exports to China rose more than 21% last year, and have tripled in the last five years.

“Our rapidly rising exports to China show that South Carolina is a strong competitor in the global marketplace,” said Secretary of Commerce Bob Faith. “Commerce’s China Export Service is a great resource for S.C. companies, both small and large, looking to grow their business by increasing their sales to the booming Chinese market.”

Commerce’s China Export Service will be offered in China from May 15 through June 2, and each participating company will require two to four days of itinerary depending on their export goals. Specific dates for each participating company’s itinerary will be determined on a first-come, first-serve basis. The China Export Service is customized for each company that participates. Participating company representatives will travel to China, and Commerce staff will prearrange, facilitate and participate in all meetings. Prescreened, one-on-one appointments will be arranged as necessary with potential buyers or distributors, existing customers, financial and legal service providers, strategic industry association contacts, and Chinese government officials.

“We bring each company over to China separately and facilitate and personally attend their meetings so they can make useful contacts that will hopefully lead to export sales to Chinese buyers,” said Gregory Guest, Commerce’s Asia Pacific Export Development manager. “By leveraging the existing industry and Chinese government relationships forged by Commerce’s China office, we are able to offer this very unique service to help our businesses form, build and maintain the relationships they need to be successful exporting to China. Since government relationships are essential to doing business in China, we can also help our clients with their existing customers by accompanying them on courtesy visits as state officials.”

In fact, companies that participated in the China Export Service during fiscal year 2003-04 reaped a combined result of $145 million in new sales to China.

A nominal service fee of $2400 will cover all expenses related to appointment making and facilitation, including ground transportation and interpretation. Airfare, hotel accommodations, and incidentals will be the responsibility of each participant. S.C. Department of Commerce’s Export Development staff will assist with reservations.

Due to high interest in Commerce’s China Export Service, only several spaces remain. The registration deadline is March 20. For more information, please contact Guest by at 803.737.0651 or by email at gguest@SCcommerce.com.