On August 23, 2017 the City of Seattle received a delegation from the City of Hangzhou at the Seattle City Hall. The Hangzhou delegation was welcomed by Ed Murray, Mayor of the City of Seattle, Hyeok Kim, Deputy May of the City of Seattle, and Carlton Vann, Director of International Business Development for the City of Seattle as well as Washington State China Relations Council Chair Andy Wilson and WSCRC President Mercy Kuo. WSCRC board members Jim Young of Century Law Firm, Thomas Taylor of East West Bank, Kristi Heim of the Beijing Genomics Institute, Fraser Mendel of Mendel Owens PS, Marc Berger of Nyhus Communications and Michelle Zou of Pacific Technologies Consulting also welcomed the delegation.
Hu Zhengyu, Deputy Secretary General, General Office of the Communist Party of China and Director of the Hangzhou Municipal Development Research Center, Tao Xiaoying, Chairman of Santi Group Company Ltd. and Liu Tian, Director of the Philadelphia Sino-U.S. Cultural Exchange Center led the 30-person Hangzhou delegation. Key industries represented amongst delegation members included tourism, technology, retail, investment, and E-commerce.
Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim, WSCRC Chair Andy Wilson and WSCRC board member Jim Young gave welcome remarks followed by reciprocal remarks from Mr. Hu Zhengyu. Carlton Vann outlined the investment environment of Seattle. Mr Liu Tian presented an overview of Hangzhou city environment and brand stories. Ms. Tao Xiaoying and Thomas Taylor spoke as representatives of the business sector for Hangzhou and greater Seattle area respectively.
In promotion of the City of Hangzhou, Mr. Yang Xing presented “Hangzhou’s Top 10 Most Iconic Night Views,” followed by discussion on ways to further build and expand business, cultural and innovation cooperation between Hangzhou and Seattle.