Investors make 'pilgrimage' to Omaha, Buffett's hometown

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts (sixth from left) meets with Tian Deyou (fifth from left) from the Chinese embassy and business leaders Pang Liangyu (fourth from right), Li Lei (fourth from left) and Zhao Jing (third from left). May Zhou / China Daily

While the US and China are two nations politically, they are practically one country economically, Tian Deyou, economic and commercial minister-counselor from the Chinese embassy in Washington, told a group of Chinese and American business leaders gathered at the Omaha Dialog on Friday in Omaha, Nebraska.

"US-China trade has reached $520 billion," said Tian. "There are more than 3,000 Chinese companies in the US. More than 600,000 Chinese young people are studying in the US. Every day, more than 300 flights are flying between the US and China with more than 10,000 people crossing the border.

"The bilateral relationship is closer than ever," said Tian, who encouraged Chinese business leaders to look around for investment opportunities in the US.

Close to a hundred Chinese and American business leaders gathered at the Omaha Dialogue to discuss the investment strategies and US-China business relationship before taking part in the annual shareholders meeting of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday.

Themed "Legend and Beyond", the fourth annual dialogue was organized by ACME Society, International Finance Education Association, FISO Group and China Wangqi Group.

With the deeply intertwined relations between the US and China, all business leaders firmly believe that the US and China will continue to deepen their economic ties.

"In the economic world, the US and China have to get along, otherwise it's not good for each other," said Harry Edelson, founder of Edelson Technology Partners and an early investor in China's internet.

Edelson thinks that the US political election system makes US leaders think in the short term, while China has the advantage of long-term planning.

"China has a Five-Year Plan while it's hard for the Congress to come up with a one-year plan. This is one of the reasons for China success, they worry less about right now than what's happening five years later. Very soon the US will have to learn from China," said Edelson, whose view was echoed by John Allen, chairman and CEO of the Greater China Corp.

Wanqi chairman Li Lei, who won an International Innovative Investment Award, said that he followed Buffett's business idea 18 years ago when he first started.

"Today I am in Omaha talking to you. This is proof that the China-US relationship is very close and it will get closer," Li said.

Chris Qiao, president of Angel 100, a Chinese venture capital organization with more than 100 registered entrepreneur members, brought seven members to the dialogue.

"I can tell that there is a lot we can learn in terms of investment concepts and ideas," Qiao said. "This in a way is a pilgrimage for us to come to the hometown of Buffett. We are here to learn what the most promising investment fields are and to establish a relationship with our US counterparts."

Contact the writer at mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com