A delegation of Kansas officials returned home this week after a business trip to China, and the state's commerce secretary said they're "rolling up their sleeves" to meet provisions of a memorandum of understanding signed with Henan province.

"We're working fast and furiously," Kansas Commerce Secretary Pat George told China Daily. "We hope to be able to meet and exceed [Henan's] expectations of what Kansas can do for them."

George accompanied Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman and two state department of Agriculture staffers on the seven-day trip to Beijing, Guangdong Province and Henan, during which the Kansas and Henan governors signed the memorandum.

Kansas and Henan, both centrally located in their respective countries, have been sister states for more than 30 years. "We are well known in Henan," Rodman said. "We really have an alignment of what we do and what we're trying to do between the province and our state."

Both regions are important agriculture hubs. In 2012, Kansas agricultural exports to China totaled more than $533 million, according to Euromonitor International data. Whereas Kansas has a population of nearly 3 million; Henan's is about 100 million.

Among initiatives in the memorandum, Kansas will collaborate on developing an executive-leadership training course for government officials, as well as for businesses in the food industry.

At the university level, Kansas will work with the Henan Academy of Sciences and Henan University of Technology on courses about grain and food sciences.

Two other areas of concern that were discussed and where the Kansas officials said they are confident they can help were education and bioscience technology. The two sides plan to collaborate on research and agriculture in the areas of plants, animals and bioscience. Rodman said Henan has more than 100,000 acres designated for agricultural research.

Officials also agreed to establish a Kansas office in Henan and vice versa to move the two region's array of initiatives forward.

"China has a problem because they've developed so fast and they're very production driven, including within their food industry," Rodman said. "Now that they are able to get their stomachs full, they want to get the quality, but they have not been able to trust the local brands and labels." Rodman said the US label on food and other products is highly valued among Chinese consumers.

"It's a lot of work," George said. "The Chinese - they're on a mission to accomplish this stuff. The sooner the better."

George said that although the state's work in China has great economic potential, it is also important from a humanitarian standpoint. The commerce secretary said the Kansas state government is very interested in feeding China's population to help save lives. "Even though China is growing economically and their middle class is growing, they still have a lot of people in poverty," George said.

Rodman said China has a huge need for baby formula, particularly after experiencing some major food scares. As Kansas looks to develop its own dairy industry, the two sides will work on plans to build a milk-processing plant. Rodman said the facility would process Kansas milk into fortified milk powder, which would then be converted into baby formula and shipped directly to China.

"China's huge, the US is huge. Part of the deal is just getting together and finding out what everybody's doing," said Rodman, who estimated he has visited China 20-25 times.

George said he believes the human and monetary capitals are there to move forward quickly and effectively.

"Now we feel a sense of urgency, too, to meet those needs," George said. "We're very much an open-for-business state, and the current administration is pushing [these initiatives] hard."

George said the Kansas government expects a delegation from China to visit the state within the next 30 to 45 days to nail down details on how the two sides will move forward.

carolineberg@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 07/25/2013 page2)