Wayne County is taking a serious look beyond its borders to explore opportunities for investment and job opportunities in Michigan. With the inclusion of China in the World Trade Organization, the country presents an opportunity to foster trade and investments.

Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano is taking note of the favorable combination of the right circumstances, the right time, and the right place.

It is projected that China will have the second largest economy in the world by 2020. Last October, Executive Ficano led a trade mission to China and visited business and manufacturing facilities in Beijing, Chongqing, Wuhan and Nanjing.

As a result, a Chinese company, Century Automotive of the Tempo Group is making a major investment in Wayne County by acquiring a 480,000-square-foot facility. Several companies represented in the trade mission have developed their infrastructure to penetrate the Chinese market opportunities. Several high level delegates and company executives from three cities have visited Wayne County.

Wayne County has developed a Business Partnership with Chongqing, (a population of 31 million people), and Wuhan (a population of 8.4 million people). Wayne County and the two Chinese cities have created a Business Partnership Advisory Board that will set tangible goals and will meet every year to gauge the performance in terms of business investments and joint ventures.

“Governments in China play a pivotal role in paving the way and opening doors for American companies,” says Executive Ficano. “Wayne County plans to open offices in these two cities, with at least one office in 2006.” The offices will work closely with the offices of the mayors of the two cities to assist Wayne County companies entering the Chinese marketplace and vice versa. The goal is to encourage companies from China to invest in Wayne County and to import from companies in Wayne County.