(AP, February 15, 2007) — City officials are counting on a new development office in Shanghai, China, to attract Chinese companies here and to help Chicago companies do business with that country.
The Chicago China Development Corporation is a public-private partnership with a city commitment of about $500,000 over three years.
"The global economy is here to stay," Mayor Richard M. Daley said Thursday in announcing the new venture, which he hopes will bring new jobs to the city and the region. It will be the city’s first overseas development office. The city currently has development offices in Washington, D.C., and Springfield.
Overseeing the effort will be a board of directors of Chicago business leaders appointed by Daley.
In Shanghai, the development office’s new executive director is John Thomson, who has worked in China throughout his career. Thomson most recently directed a program operated by more than a dozen U.S. universities in China to train professionals and doctoral candidates, according to the mayor’s office.
The idea for the Shanghai development office arose when Daley visited China in 2004, according to his office.
Thomson said one task will be to dispel any misconceptions about Chicago as a gangster town or declining Rust Belt city. The other will be to reinforce to the Chinese that there is more to America than just New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
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