China delegation to look at St. Louis investment opportunities
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
04.16.2009 12:08 pm
A year ago, high-ranking Chinese official Li Zhaoxing came to St. Louis to talk about plans for an air cargo connection between his nation and the Gateway City. Next month, according to St. Louis RCGA President Dick Fleming, another Chinese delegation will be here to continue that conversation. The group will include representatives of the China Investment Promotion Agency, and that's a new twist to the relationship, Fleming explained:
They will be bringing investors here looking for investments in companies here and in the broader St. Louis marketplace.
The local companies wouldn't necessarily have to be connected to the air-freight or cargo business, or even to the goal of finding "back haul" products to ship from the Midwest to China. Fleming even brought up the possibility that Chinese companies might be interested in funding some of St. Louis' promising life-sciences companies. He added:
This is an example of how this relationship can develop in a variety of ways beyond the aviation deal.
The aviation deal itself, of course, is in the nascent stage. The latest development was the formation of a Midwest China Hub Commission in January.
