China Cargo Hub decision coming, but not next week
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
January 12, 2011
By Tim Logan
Buzz is building that, after almost three years of negotiations, Chinese officials are near a decision on launching air freight service to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
Airport officials say they're expecting word by the end of the month. There's even some scuttlebutt that news might come next week, during a visit to the U.S. by Chinese President Hu Jintao, who's scheduled to visit Washington and Chicago. Trade talks are high on the agenda for the trip.
But Mike Jones, chairman of the Midwest China Hub Commission, said any announcement is more likely to come after Hu's visit next week.
"President Hu's visit is the top priority for them and they wouldn't upstage that," Jones wrote in an e-mail to the Post-Dispatch. "Look for something after the visit, is what we're hearing."
Signs, Jones said, are "really positive," but, of course, nothing is final until it's final. So stay tuned.
