Jilin promotes 'culture trade' in NY

A business delegation from Jilin province was in New York to promote bilateral culture trade in New York on Friday, presenting their products and companies to an audience comprised of US and Chinese business people.

"With the prosperity of cultural industry, a new term — 'cultural trade' — has appeared to describe one of the most essential industries in the international service area," the Department of Commerce of Jilin Province said in a statement.

Jilin province said it is focusing on trading cultural products, especially handicrafts and gifts, as well as advertising and animation.

The Cultural Trade Promotion Meeting for Jilin province was hosted by the Department of Commerce of Jilin Province and supported by the China-US Chamber of Commerce and the Economic and Commercial Office of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in New York.

"China is famous for its culture and its decorative products — including all types of wood, metal, porcelain — as well as its handicrafts," said Liu Yi, counselor of the Economic and Commercial Office of the Consulate General of China in New York.

In her opening statements, Liu said that since the inauguration of the new central government, economic reform has centered on "the principle of letting the market play the decisive role in allocating resources to their most productive need" so the consulate general office "encourages US investors and the business community to seize the opportunities and actively explore the Chinese markets".

"I know that we have a very fast-growing Chinese community here in New York City and beyond with people coming from all different parts of China," echoed John Liu, former New York City comptroller. "People come here to New York in search of economic opportunity, but it's a two-way street, because people in New York are also looking for opportunities abroad."

Companies present at the event that import and export arts products included the Yuping Arts and Crafts Co, Balong Art and Crafts, Qinhang Arts and Crafts and Hongrui Cultural Industry. Other businesses included Sarfan Textile Industry, Mingnuo Culture Communication, an animation production company, and Kaiwan Information Technology, a mobile phone application development company.

Chuck Roberts, business development manager at the China-US Chamber of Commerce said that trade promotion events like this are important, but he thinks that "not enough" is being done to promote trade between the two countries.

"It's has to go a notch higher," Roberts said. "I'd like to see this stuff in schools, on TV. I want to see this stuff being talked about in the political realm."

Located in the northeastern part of China with a population of over 27 million, Jilin province had a GDP of $208.8 billion in 2013, according to the province's official website. Jilin's economy is reliant on "three major pillar industries" — automobile, petrochemical and agricultural product processing.

The province is geographically located in the "golden corn belt", with the land producing maize, rice and sorghum. China's automobile industry, the largest in the world measured by automobile production, is centered in Jilin province, particularly in the city of Changchun, often called China's automobile city.

The province reported in March that its private sector economy grew as a result of reform making "access threshold for market players more lenient", it said on its website. The number of newly-registered private enterprises reached 2,257, an 80 percent growth year-on-year, it said. Registered capital, the amount of money made by companies selling shares of stock, hit almost $1.1 billion, a 219 percent jump compared to the year before.