Saint Martin’s and Thurston County EDC host Chinese trade delegation

February 8, 2010

Lacey, Washington — Saint Martin’s University, in partnership with the Thurston County Economic Development Council (EDC), will host the farewell dinner for a visiting Chinese trade delegation on Monday, February 8 in the Norman Worthington Convention Center. The dinner will cap the delegation’s busy four-day visit to the Puget Sound area, which will include tours of Olympia and Seattle as well as meetings with the Port of Olympia, the Olympia City Council, the Washington State Department of Commerce, and regional businesses and attractions such as the Great Wolf Lodge.

The visit is part of Thurston County EDC and Saint Martin’s on-going efforts to promote trade and economic opportunities between China and Thurston County. The Chinese trade delegation includes representatives from Shanghai Lianbo Investment Co., Ltd., Shanghai Kejiao Business Co., Ltd., and Nanjing Yiheng Commerce Co., Ltd. They are here to explore investment opportunities in commercial real estate and agriculture, and as well as the auto industry. While this is the second Chinese delegation visit to this region—the last one was in 2007—Saint Martin’s and Thurston County EDC have led three Thurston County trade delegations to China in 2006, 2008, and 2009. A fourth visit to China is scheduled for May 2010.

“Saint Martin’s is proud to be actively involved in promoting international trade and economic development in our region,” says Josephine Yung, associate vice president of International Programs and Development at Saint Martin’s. Several Chinese students currently studying business at Saint Martin’s are assisting in receiving the delegation.

Adds Thurston County EDC executive director Michael Cade, “We are very proud of the partnership between the EDC, Saint Martin's University, and all of our economic development partners to implement a long-range strategy for business development for the Thurston county and South Puget Sound region.”

For more information or to sign up for this workshop, please contact Josephine Yung at jyung@stmartin.edu or Renée Sunde at Thurston County EDC at rsunde@thurstonedc.com.

Saint Martin’s University is an independent four-year, Catholic, coeducational university located on a 380-acre wooded campus in Lacey, Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic Order of Saint Benedict, the University is one of 18 Benedictine colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. Saint Martin’s University prepares students for successful lives through its 21 majors and six graduate programs spanning the liberal arts, business, education and engineering. Saint Martin’s welcomes 1,250 students from many ethnic and religious backgrounds to its main campus, and 650 more to its extension campuses located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Olympic College, Centralia College, and Tacoma Community College.

For additional information:

Genevieve Canceko Chan
Director of communications & marketing
Saint Martin’s University
360-438-4332
gchan@stmartin.edu
www.stmartin.edu