Chinese delegation makes local rounds

Trade agreements might be on the horizon following this weekend’s visit by a group of Chinese delegates to Waynesboro, an official close to the talks said Friday.

Tom Sikes, general manager of Waynesboro-based Reo Logistics, said the delegates’ first trip to Waynesboro “has been better than expected.”

“We’ve had three potential deals put on the table today and enthusiasm for the community was high,” he said. “Our visitors seem extremely pleased with the outcome. I think we’ve got some potentially good opportunities here.”

Sikes said details of the trade agreements will not be made public until the arrangements are finalized.

The Waynesboro City Council and delegates, including government officials and business leaders from the city of Wanzhou, signed a friendly city cooperation agreement in council chambers.

“I hope we can develop business relationships and promote better understanding of the Chinese culture and people,” Mayor Frank Lucente said. “We’re all human beings living on the same planet.”

Waynesboro business leaders signed a similar agreement during a 2008 trip to Wanzhou, located in Chongqing along the Yangtze River in southwest China. Sikes made a connection with the Chinese after consulting a colleague with close business ties to the Chinese city of Wanzhou.

The delegation toured the Hershey plant in Stuarts Draft, Barren Ridge Vineyards in Fishersville, Mish Brothers Farm in Greenville and Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro.

“We have a very good first impression of Waynesboro,” said Bai Wennong, executive deputy governor of Wanzhou. “It’s very beautiful.”

Wennong said the delegates are especially interested in opportunities to import agricultural products from the Valley.

Because of the growing business relationship between the two regions, Waynesboro is the only US city invited to participate in a year-long garden exposition in Chongqing.

“The magnitude of this opportunity is far-reaching,” Sikes said. “Our agricultural community really has an opportunity to shine in this display.”

Wennong said China’s growing economy has further opportunity to grow through government policies supporting increased private enterprise.

“In the past 30 years, there’s been big development in a sustainable way,” he said.

Further trade opportunities might arise as the Chinese government pushes development of the country’s western portion. Chongqing is seen as the gateway to Western China, Wennong said.

Waynesboro officials are planning a return trip to China in the coming weeks, Sikes said.

“We want to follow up immediately with a trip to show we’re interested and serious about building this economic tie,” he said. “We have an opportunity here for an international trade center here unlike any in the state, so we’re pretty excited about that.”