Gateway to the East?
St Louis American
January 20, 2011
By Rebecca S. Rivas
St. Louis took big steps last week in its continuing efforts to become the "Gateway to the East" and make Lambert-St. Louis International Airport a hub for trade with China.
The Midwest-China Hub Commission announced on Jan. 18 that China Cargo Airline is negotiating and studying the use of Lambert airport as an international air cargo hub. Then two days after Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Chicago on Jan. 20, Chinese government representatives traveled to St. Louis to sign a memorandum of understanding with local business leaders.
"This ceremony was as important as the airline announcement," said Mike Jones, chairman of the Midwest-China Hub Commission, which is a collaboration between regional civic and business leaders formed in 2009. "This is welcome news and a key benchmark we have been diligently working toward."
In a two-day delegation with Shanghai officials Saturday, Yang Quoqiang, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Chicago, announced that officials from the Chinese airline will arrive in St. Louis on Feb. 20.
"This is the news we've been waiting for," said Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, director of the airport.
China Cargo Airlines is now China's largest cargo airline and one of the largest in Asia, Yang said. In December, China Eastern Airline Corporation merged its three cargo subsidiaries - China Cargo Airlines, Shanghai Airlines Cargo and Great Wall Airlines - into China Cargo.
The airline's arrival will be a follow-up to President Hu's many negotiations in the United States, he said.
President Hu's visit brought the approval of several U.S.-China deals worth more than $45 billion. This included a $19 billion contract with Boeing for 200 airplanes, and an agreement with St. Louis-based Peabody Energy Corporation to develop "clean energy centers" in China. Overall, Chinese companies signed 70 contracts for $25 billion in U.S. exports from 12 states.
Chinese officials at the ceremony Saturday noted the importance of Hu choosing to visit Chicago, despite the bids from other U.S. cities for his visit. Jones said that the president recognized the importance of being in the middle of the country.
"Half of America is in between the Rocky Mountains and the Allegheny River," Jones said, "and if you are going to have a relationship with the U.S. you have to be in the middle."
Though China's visit to St. Louis shows promise for the hub plan, critics say that the hub's success depends on whether the shipping industry welcomes St. Louis into the international freight circle.
