Chinese delegates meet with city leaders, agribusiness reps
by Jonathan Partridge | Patterson Irrigator
Jun 14, 2012
A 30-minute tour and a handshake were all it took last week for Qing “Laura” Li of the Sino American Trade Development Association to offer Patterson apricot grower Dave Santos an opportunity to sell his crop in central China.
The interaction was the product of a budding relationship between a handful of Stanislaus County mayors, including Luis Molina of Patterson, and a two-person delegation from China that traveled through the area within the past week.
Just four weeks ago, local mayors Virginia Madueño of Riverbank and Ed Katen of Newman were in China, attending the Mayors’ Forum on Sustainable Development in Zhuzhou, where they met Li.
Less than a month later, from Wednesday, June 6 through Monday, June 11, Li and Master Shi YanDong, a kung fu master from central China’s Shanxi province, were in California’s Central Valley, meeting political leaders and touring Lucich-Santos Farms’ Blossom Hill apricot packing shed, along with other local industries.
Li hopes to create trade agreements between the U.S. and China, with a focus on exporting Central Valley crops to China.
YanDong, who does not speak English and had Li translate for him, seeks to forge sister-city relationships between communities in Stanislaus County and central China.
The two delegates, who stayed at Madueño’s home, have invited Molina, Madueño and Katen to attend a sister cities event in China within the next few months.
In addition, Li hopes to host an agricultural expo for U.S. commodities in China at some point.
“I think it could be life-changing,” Katen said of the newfound ties between Chinese leaders and the Stanislaus County mayors. “I think it could open up doors. not only in Newman and Stanislaus County. but in the whole Central Valley.”
Katen’s participation in the China trip came about as quickly as many of the business deals forged within the past week.
He got word in early May that Oakdale Mayor Pat Paul could not go to the sustainable development forum and was invited to go in her stead. Four days later, he was on a plane.
Katen said the entire trip — paid for by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce — was memorable, as he sought to soak in the culture.
Madueño said the opportunities to do business with China were an unexpected bonus that arose from the sustainable communities event.
As she talked with Li about the agricultural commodities grown in her hometown region, she learned that the Chinese have a need for farm products, just as the Central Valley has a need to expand its markets, she said.
“It felt like a very fruitful experience,” Madueño said.
Li said both she and YanDong were impressed with the quality of the Central Valley’s crops.
Li expressed amazement at the focus on customer service and quality control at Stewart & Jasper Orchards' almond processing facility in Newman. Often, nuts in China are with chunks of mud, and people are forced to spit them out, she said.
Likewise, she said the cherries and apricots she ate at Lucich-Santos Farms were much sweeter than those grown in her native land.
“Now, I understand why America has such quality — that you treat your customers like royalty,” Li said following a dinner party at Madueño’s Riverbank home Friday, June 8.
“He felt the same,” she added, motioning in YanDong’s direction.
On the other hand, YanDong was unimpressed by some of the waste he saw in the United States, according to Madueño and Li. He believed it was wrong to let food go uneaten, both because food comes from living plants and animals and because many children in his home country have only two meals per day, they explained.
Madueño noted with a smile that the kung fu master asked for help from her sons to finish a fajita dish when they all went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant one night.
The delegates had a busy schedule, visiting agribusinesses; the Gallo Center for the Arts, where the group inquired about having YanDong's students perform a demonstration; and “American Graffiti” displays in Riverbank and Modesto.
They also met with various city leaders and with officials at the Port of Stockton and toured a building in Riverbank that formerly housed a U.S. Army ammunition plant, which local companies could potentially use as a hub to sell their goods directly to the Chinese, Madueño said.
On Friday, the Chinese visitors shared a bit of their own culture. YanDong led Madueño and some dinner guests, including Katen and Paul, in “ba duan jin” — a series of breathing and movement exercises that appear similar to tai chi to the casual American observer but are part of another tradition, according to Li.
He also threw a needle through a plate of glass held by Katen and Molina, popping a balloon on the other side. YanDong is one of only five people in the world who can perform the feat, Li said.
Li shared gifts with some of the Americans the pair visited, such as a booklet about YanDong’s monastery in central China and Chinese apricots that were individually wrapped to ensure their preservation.
Molina said the relationships forged with the Chinese delegates were an example of the positive attributes of the Stanislaus County Mayors Working Group, composed of the mayors of the county’s nine cities.
The group has been scrutinized in recent months for its dinner expenses and for discussing policy matters behind closed doors. But Molina emphasized the benefits it provided to the county.
“This is another thing that the mayor’s group brings to the table, to bring some leverage,” Molina said.
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