Waynesboro's trade talks with China move forward

Though a meeting between Gov. Bob McDonnell and Waynesboro’s potential trade partners in China fell through this week, local business leaders say they’re seeing progress in their work to establish deals.

Tom Sikes, general manager of Waynesboro-based Reo Distribution, said he was not “surprised or concerned” that officials of the Chongqing province were unable to greet the governor in Shanghai.

“With such a dignitary going to China, security will be absolutely top-notch,” he said. “Our request came late in the planning stages for the trip, and to schedule something of that nature is not that easy to do in China.”

In a conference call from Shanghai, McDonnell said Tuesday that he’s “sure something will work out in the future.”

The Republican’s job creation initiative in the Far East comes about a week before a business liaison between Waynesboro and Chinese sister-city Wanzhou plans to make a return trip to Chongqing, said Anne Seaton, an account manager with Reo Distribution.

Eddy Shek, a Charlottesville man who has assisted in establishing relations in Chongqing, plans to explore opportunities for educational partnerships between Chongqing Medical College and Virginia schools during his trip May 19 through June 5, Seaton said

Meanwhile, local executives are meeting with Blue Ridge Community College officials this week to discuss the possibilities, Sikes said, and they are reaching out to the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, James Madison University and Fishburne Military School.

Sikes also said he expects carmaker Chongqing Changan Kuayue Automobile Co. and a motorcycle manufacturer to sign memorandums of understanding that Shek will present.

“It puts both parties on notice of what we will do and what they will do,” Sikes said. “If they agree to that, we’ve got a framework for a formal contract.”

A contract would involve shipping Chinese-made parts to the foreign trade zone in Solutions Place, where Reo Distribution is located, and assembling vehicles for export to South America and South Africa, Sikes said.

Gerald Wilson, owner of Regenerative Medical Enterprises, also located in Solutions Place, said that assembly operations could begin at the business complex by the first quarter of 2012 and that the venture could eventually create 100 local jobs.

Changan Kuayue also hopes to partner with American engineering firms to improve their vehicles in order to meet safety requirements set by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The move, expected to take several years, would allow the company to begin selling cars in the United States, Wilson said.