More than seafood: Alaska seeding broader economic ties with China

BEIJING - "People" are one of the things about China that has most impressed Bill Walker, governor of the US state of Alaska.

With a population of 750,000, Alaska sees the market it needs most in China's 1.4 billion people.

"It's impressive to see the number of people that are here in China," said Walker in a recent interview with Xinhua during his visit to Beijing. "What we need for our project is customers."

Walker was referring to a planned mega-project that involves a 1,300 km gas pipeline from the North Slope to south Alaska, where the gas can be liquefied and loaded into tankers for delivery to the Asian market.

Seafood has been the staple of Alaska's economic cooperation with China, its largest trading partner. About 27 percent of Alaska's exports, largely seafood, end up in China.

Now the northernmost US state, and the largest by area, wants to add more to its relationship with the world's second largest economy.

Walker frequently spoke of "opportunities" in cooperation with China. From seafood and natural gas to tourism and winter sports, the governor sees mutual benefits in a wide range of areas of cooperation.

"We have a tremendous opportunity in Alaska to bring liquefied natural gas to China on a very long-term basis," he told Xinhua.

If Alaska were a country rather than a state, it would be the eighth most energy-rich nation in the world, Walker said.

A largely unexplored area, Alaska's North Slope has about 991 billion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves.

The state-run LNG project, which Walker said is "ready to go," is estimated to cost more than $40 billion and would export up to 20 million metric tons of LNG per year to overseas markets after completion.

The project is planned to come into service in 2024, when China is expected to see a rise in energy consumption, according to Walker.

"We can provide over 100 years of supply at a stable price not necessarily tied to the price of another commodity, oil or something else," he said. "So it's really an opportunity for both China and Alaska."

Compared with other places, Alaska can deliver LNG at a competitive price, as shipping and supply advantages offset higher pipeline costs, according to information provided by the governor's office.

Walker also welcomes Chinese investment in the project, as well as in the development of other resources, noting "a lot of opportunities for Chinese companies in Alaska."

Apart from natural gas, Alaska is also rich in oil, coal, lead, zinc, graphite and rare-earth deposits.

The LNG project, if built, would "definitely help with the trade imbalance" between China and the United States, Walker said.

Although the United States has a trade deficit with China, Alaska saw a trade surplus of $700 million with the country in 2016, according to data from the US Department of Commerce.

China has on many occasions stressed that it does not intentionally pursue a trade surplus with the United States, saying the imbalance was purely formed by market forces.

Walker expressed his concern over rising protectionism in the United States, saying Alaska is heavily dependent on its trade ties with Asia for its natural resources including fish, timber, mining and natural gas.

"We've seen that in the past, and we are very sensitive to that," he said when asked to comment on the protectionism inclination.

The governor believes a trade war between the two countries would hurt both sides, stressing the "two-way opportunity" in the bilateral trade ties. "We hope there is not [a trade war]. We'll do what we can so there is not a trade war," he said. "I think there is an opportunity for both the United States and China, and specifically Alaska, to benefit from our respective needs."

Xinhua