Georgia leaders rethink China strategy | www.myajc.com

Georgia governors have long dreamt of a Chinese investment onslaught that sends new business surging through the state. Sonny Perdue once compared the painstaking process to farming: You plant, you water, you fertilizer and then wait for the harvest.

Georgia’s still waiting. So as Gov. Nathan Deal kicks off a 12-day journey to Asia on Monday, the state plans a new — and perhaps novel — strategy to grab a bigger share of China’s export market and lure investment. His journey holds both the promise of a surge of jobs and spending that could directly benefit Georgians, and the risk of another trade mission that produces high hopes and scant results.

The delegation will open a new office in the emerging port city of Qingdao, a place where no other U.S. state houses an office. The latest trade delegation also features a large contingent of agricultural leaders who hope to carve out new markets and reassure existing clients of their products’ quality.

The trip comes at a precarious time, however. While the U.S. economy slowly recovers, China’s has gone in the other direction. The flurry of Chinese manufacturers that announced big investments here has largely fizzled and there’s no guarantee of a payoff for Deal, who makes job creation the cornerstone of his suddenly reheated re-election campaign.

China is the state’s second-largest trading partner, and Georgia’s business leaders drool over the prospect of making deeper inroads to the growing market. So do domestic and international rivals competing for Chinese contracts.

“If Georgia is not aggressive, they will go elsewhere,” said Guanming Fang, an Atlanta attorney specializing in Chinese contracts.

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