Bond: Chinese airlines needed for Midwest trade hub
St. Louis Business Journal
January 20, 2010
by Kelsey Volkmann
Top-level Chinese officials assured U.S. Sen. Kit Bond on his trip there last week that they consider establishing a trade hub in Missouri a priority but want Chinese airlines involved in the discussions.
Chinese officials were pleased to hear the details of plans to build $40 million in cargo facilities at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, Bond said Wednesday after he met with the Midwest-China Hub Commission at the World Trade Center in St. Louis
"The second-ranked person in China, Wu Bangguo, chairman of the National People's Congress, said it is a high priority," Bond, R-Mo., told the Business Journal. "This is time-sensitive as we move forward with planning to make these investments. We have to get the airlines involved in the commercial study. We export $1 billion worth of goods from Missouri to China each year. We want to double that."
Li Jiangmin, director general international for the Civil Aviation Administration of China, which is China's equivalent to the Federal Aviation Administration, told Bond that the CAAC is willing to provide preferential treatment and policy support for the project.
Bond said he also met with officials in Singapore, Vietnam and other Asian countries to explore more trade opportunities.
Last year, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., named Bond vice chairman of the U.S.-China Inter-Parliamentary Group, the Senate's highest-level delegation to China.
This past week, Bond co-led a trip to China with the delegation's chair, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and held meetings with top-ranking officials in Beijing and Shanghai where he pressed the Chinese on turning the Midwest China Hub project into a reality.
For nearly two years, Bond, members of the Missouri congressional delegation, and state and local officials, have worked to establish St. Louis as the hub for transportation and commerce between the Midwest and China.
