Tacoma mayor cultivating relations with China

Mayor Marilyn Strickland wants a global role for a low key city

Marilyn Strickland, the mayor of Tacoma, Washington, sees a place for her city on the world stage, and her frequent trips to China are steps toward that goal.

From April 4 to April 10, Strickland visited China for the fourth time, accompanied by City Community and Economic Development Director Ricardo Noguera and two other staff members.

"It is important for us to visit China for many reasons," she said. "China is the largest trade partner of the Port of Tacoma. We have a Chinese-American population here, but we also understand we want to build through diplomacy stronger relationships, foster educational exchanges, cultural exchanges, and economic growth. This was an opportunity for me to meet some officials in China," Strickland said.

Since taking office in 2011, Strickland has sought to project Tacoma as an international city with a role in global trade.

The Tacoma contingent visited Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan, in Central China's Hubei province. In Shanghai, Strickland met a developer who is working on a convention center hotel. While in Shanghai, Strickland visited Jiading No. 1 High School in the suburbs.

In Wuhan, she signed a friendship agreement with the city's mayor and discussed potential economic development and cultural exchange programs.

In Beijing, the group visited the Beijing No. 4 High School and met with some of the officials there.

"One of the major tasks of the trade mission trip is to cultivate investors and attract direct investment from China," Strickland said.

"One investor from Shanghai is interested in a $150 million downtown hotel project designed to include two 24-story towers," she said. "The other investor in Wuhan is planning a downtown center near the University of Washington-Tacoma, a project worth about $125 million."

In Tacoma, Strickland said that "the local schools are accepting and hosting more and more students from China. In April, the person at Tacoma Community College who is in charge of foreign exchange of the school visited Wuhan as well.

"I think it is a good thing for both countries," Strickland said. "President Xi talks about the importance of one-on-one relationships, a lot of exchanges; this year is the US-China Tourism Year.

"In addition to promoting those things, the Tacoma Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau produced a video to promote the city as a destination to an audience in China," she said.

Strickland said "having President Xi visit Tacoma (in September 2015) was a very big honor for us. It really elevated (Tacoma) in name recognition in China. Even when I was in Wuhan or Jiading, people knew Tacoma because President Xi has been here. I think we have a window of opportunity to continue to publicize (the city) as it becomes more popular in China, so people do want to visit here."

The mayor cited some of Tacoma's charms: its natural beauty, slow pace and peaceful lifestyle.

"We need to promote Tacoma in the Chinese language, and when people come to visit us, we want to make it easy for them to get around," she said. "For example, if a large tour group from China comes, we want to have a bus ready for them at the airport to really make the experience easier and fun."

Strickland also has visited Tacoma's sister city Fuzhou, in East China's Fujian province, and hopes to soon visit Shenzhen, in South China's Guangdong province, and Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province soon.

But her favorite city is Shanghai. "The cities are all very special, and the people I met were all gracious lovely people. If I have to choose one, I would say Shanghai. It is a modern international city with a lot of people from around the world. It is a beautiful city on the water. I really felt the connection when I met the officials (at the) school in Jiading."

Strickland will lead another trip to China in October, and the mission then will be education exchange and communication.

"As you can remember, back in September when President Xi was here at Lincoln High School, he very graciously invited 100 students to be his guests in China," she said. "We are in the process of planning that trip right now. We will visit Beijing and Shanghai."

lindadeng@chinadailyusa.com