WSCRC

Washington State China Relations Council

WSCRC Hosts American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai Delegation

The Washington State China Relations Council hosted a roundtable with representatives from Amcham Shanghai on September 22nd at the WSCRC offices. The Amcham delegation, led by the Amcham President Eric Zheng, visited Seattle enroute to Washington, D.C. where they will meet with members of  Congress and the Administration.

WSCRC Board Member Nelson Dong opened the meeting with an outline of the challenges facing U.S. businesses in China, with particular focus on China restricting legislation being debated in D.C., the limited people to people contacts caused by the tension between our two countries.

AmCham President Zheng then presented the results of Amcham Shanghai’s annual business survey which was released on the eve of his trip.  The report was compiled from the survey responses of over three hundred senior business leaders of American companies operating in China. The key finding was that current friction between the U.S. and China and its impact on business is the number one concern of American companies.  While market access, IP protection and the lack of transparency in China have  traditionally been the key areas of concern of American business leaders, geo-political concerns now overshadow these issues.

Mr. Zheng also noted that while there is a trend of companies to increasingly invest in third countries as a hedge against potential China related supply chain problems, most Amcham member companies are still optimistic about growing their business in China.

PRESS RELEASE: Washington State China Relations Council Integrates Educational Programs with Asia Society Seattle

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:                                 
Name: Man Wang
Email: manw@wscrc.org
Phone: 206-389-7204

Washington State China Relations Council Integrates Educational Programs with Asia Society Seattle

New Office is International Nonprofit’s First in Pacific Northwest 

April 20, 2023 – Seattle – The Washington State China Relations Council (WSCRC), a Seattle-based nonprofit organization founded in 1979 that advocates for constructive bilateral relations and business ties, announced today it will transfer its cultural and educational programs to a newly established Asia Society Seattle office on May 1.

The WSCRC, a 501(c)(6) organization, will continue its trade-promotion and policy-advocacy work on behalf of its members throughout Washington state. These activities include helping connect government agencies and businesses across the Pacific, facilitating and leading inbound and outbound delegations to and from China, supporting foreign direct investment attraction efforts, and providing policy briefs and analysis to the Washington Congressional delegation.

The organization’s work that increases public education, advances people-to-people and cultural exchange between Washington and China and contributes to our region’s understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the bilateral relationship will be integrated into the Asia Society’s burgeoning operations in the Pacific Northwest. As a 501(c)(3), the Asia Society is not authorized to conduct trade-promotion or policy-advocacy activities.

The Board of the WSCRC has approved the integrations and shift in programming focus. Additional details regarding the opening of the Asia Society’s Seattle office will be forthcoming.

“This integration kicks off an exciting new chapter for our region, our members and Washington state businesses,” said Marc Berger, WSCRC Board Chair. “The new Asia Society Seattle office will be able to draw upon the WSCRC’s extensive experience, connections and brand equity to expand and amplify  programming that advances our shared missions. Combining the expertise, depth, and legacies of these two organizations will deliver greater value and access to our member companies and the community.”

The WSCRC is the country’s leading statewide organization dedicated to strengthening trade, commercial and civic ties with China. With a membership that includes global companies, government agencies and leading experts, the Council facilitates dialogue and organizes delegations with American and Chinese business and government leaders on key policy issues, including investment, trade, environment and diplomacy. The Council has hosted or co-hosted every Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping, including the visit of President Xi Jinping to Seattle in 2015, as well as the 2014 Bo’ao Forum for Asia, the first time the conference was held in North America.

The Asia Society, founded in 1954 by John D. Rockefeller, is the leading educational institution dedicated to promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships across people, leaders, and institutions of Asia and the United States in a global context. Across the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, the Society provides insight, generates ideas, and promotes collaboration to address present challenges and create a shared future.

China Allows Travel with Visas Issued before the Pandemic to Resume

On March 13th, the official website of the Chinese Embassy in the United States issued a notice announcing adjustments to the Chinese visa and entry policies for foreign nationals travelling to China. For the moment, the announcement is only available in Chinese on the Chinese Embassy’s website.

The notice stated that,

  1. Starting March 15, 2023, Beijing time, Chinese visas issued before March 28, 2020 and which are still valid can be used for travel to China.
  2. China’s overseas visa agencies will resume reviewing and issuing various types of Chinese visas.
  3. China’s overseas port visa agencies will resume reviewing and issuing various port visas that meet statutory reasons.
  4. China will resume visa-free entry for Hainan, for Shanghai cruise ships, for foreign groups to enter Guangdong from Hong Kong and Macau, and for ASEAN tour groups to enter Guilin, Guangxi.

The first adjustment above means that those holding multi-entry, multi-year visas are able to travel to China without any additional procedures.

The Washington State China Relations Council will advise if there are any changes or additions to these newly announced rules.

WSCRC Hosts Webinar on APEC Comes to Seattle

On March 7, Monica Hardy Whaley, President of the National Center for APEC (NCAPEC), provided a highly informative and insightful discussion on the U.S. hosting of APEC this year including a large number of meetings in Seattle. Thirty years ago in 1993, Seattle hosted the first-ever APEC Leaders’ Summit on Blake Island. Washington State and Seattle has long been at the center of U.S. engagement with the Asia-Pacific region

Monica explained that from July 29 to August 21, Seattle will host the third Senior Officials’ meetings as well as several Ministerial-level sessions. The Seattle meetings will focus on women’s empowerment, health, energy, food security, disaster management and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). All the meetings will be coupled with a theme of “digital month” in Seattle as each one of them will have a digital angle. Stacy Jehlik, Director of International Affairs at the City of Seattle, was also invited to speak about how to get involved in APEC events in Seattle. She encouraged interested businesses, organizations, and individuals to contact her (click on her name above) for opportunities such as  becoming a volunteer or a sponsor.

Exact dates for the meetings have not been confirmed yet. But a calendar for the APEC meetings in the U.S. this year provides a rough timeline of all the meetings. People can also contact Monica Whaley to stay updated with the APEC agenda.

For more information about the U.S. hosting of APEC this year, please visit the NCAPEC’s website, including on the APEC CEO Summit, a FAQ page about 2023 APEC, and NCAPEC’s blog.

Click here to rewatch the webinar.

WSCRC Publishes 2022 Fourth Quarter WA-China Report

As we enter 2023, the top story out of China is the sudden reversal of it zero-COVID policy and the subsequent national wide spread of the virus. While anecdotal stories describe huge swathes of the population being infected and widespread deaths, the government has stopped reporting case counts and fatalities. The concern, heard worldwide, is a lack of transparency from the Chinese government and a concern about new variants that might arise from China.

Now that Xi Jinping has been appointed for another five-year term as China’s leader, there is hope that he may be willing to be more conciliatory in relations with the U.S. Although a break-through in major power relations is not expected, recently Xi has softened his tone in what may be an effort to improve ties with the U.S. Whether this is just an attempt to reduce U.S. sanctions imposed on issues such as semi-conductors or Xinjiang is yet to be seen. China’s strong support of Russia continues to be a major deterrent to improving ties with the U.S. As reported below, Xi is back travelling again to strengthen China’s global position.

For many years, observers of China predicted that China’s economy (on a $ basis) would exceed that of the U.S. by 2030 or earlier. However, those predictions are being called into question as the Chinese economy has slowed due to its stringent COVID policies, which have severely impacted its important real estate sector and led to a slump in productivity and consumer demand. Our articles on both the Chinese Economy and China’s real estate sector probe into these issues more deeply.

Closer to home we highlight the drop of in the number of Chinese students studying in the U.S., which has dropped by 22% from peak numbers just three years ago. At the University of Washington, the decrease has only been 5.4%.

Read the full report here. 

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