Deals signed during Locke’s China trip

Gov. Gary Locke, busy promoting Washington state products and businesses in China this week, says homestate companies and colleges already are raking in signed contracts.

DAVID AMMONS; The Associated Press Tribnet.com

The governor said he and a 70-member delegation are pushing everything – printing presses, french fries, Boeing jetliners and Starbucks coffee, to name a few products – with tourism and higher-education links thrown in for good measure.

Locke and his trade and agriculture directors, reporting from Beijing on Tuesday, said Washington state is making key connections with business and government leaders in the world’s most populous nation.

The governor announced that:

•Kent-based Web Press Corp. signed a contract to sell printing presses to Peoples’ Daily. Locke valued the deal at more than $11 million.

•Green River Community College signed deals with three Chinese colleges to provide English-language professors and general studies instructors.

Agriculture Director Valoria Loveland said China agreed to speed up the "pest risk" assessments so Washington can begin exporting large volumes of fresh potatoes and potato products.

Trade Director Martha Choe said the delegation also is pressing China to buy more Boeing airplanes and promoting a China Air direct route from Beijing to Sea-Tac Airport.

Locke said the trade mission is promoting Starbucks coffee everywhere it goes.

The delegation met again with organizers of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to promote Washington companies that can provide engineering, architecture and other expertise for staging the Games, the governor said.

The weeklong mission, which ends Saturday, includes visits to Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. At Guangzhou, Locke plans to meet with government leaders from his ancestral village, Jilong, about three hours away. He said his schedule is so tight he won’t be able to visit Jilong, as he did during his first year in office.

It’s Locke’s third trip to China. Both of his parents were born in China, and he’s the first Chinese American U.S. governor.

Trade partners

China is Washington’s second-largest export trading partner, after Japan. By the numbers:

$3.5 billion: The value of all products Washington exported to China last year

$3.1 billion: The value of jetliners and parts alone exported to China last year

1.3 billion: China’s population

$490: China’s per capita income

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