Gov. Mark Dayton and 50 Minnesota business, agricultural and academic leaders are headed to China next month as part of a trade mission to bolster relations with the state's second-largest trading partner.
This will be Dayton's sixth trip to China but his first as governor. In a statement Wednesday, Dayton said "Building relationships with Chinese leaders, expanding markets for Minnesota products and encouraging reverse investment are all aimed at growing our state's economy and crafting more jobs for Minnesotans."
A key policy goal of Minnesota trade officials is to double exports by Twin Cities-area manufacturers by 2017. Expanding links in China is one way to do that, said Katie Clark, who heads the Minnesota Trade Office.
China bought $2.3 billion of Minnesota-made goods in 2011, up from $700 million in 2004. China is the state's second-biggest export market, behind Canada. Delegates will visit Chinese businesses and government officials and will attend "match-making" and networking events in Beijing, Shanghai and Xian June 8-17.
The Minnesota delegation will include representatives from large firms such as Medtronic, 3M, Best Buy and Delta Air Lines, and from smaller companies such as Jet Edge Inc., Rani Engineering, software engineering firm Quality Bunker and WindRider International, which make small sailing boats. Twin Cities law firms Fredrikson & Byron; Dorsey & Whitney; and Robbins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi also are sending delegates.
China is a major buyer of Minnesota soybeans and pork. "In the past 10 years, our ag exports to China have jumped 800 percent," said Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson.
Ag delegates include officials from Knewtson Soy Products, Dombrovski Meats Co., Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, Minnesota Pork Producers Association, Minnesota Milk Producers Association, Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Midwest Ag Enterprises, Superior Feed Ingredients and the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council.
Dave Preisler, executive director of Minnesota Pork Producers Association, said his group has gone on several missions to China and will keep going. "It's just a function of the fact that it's a pork-eating culture and there are a lot of people," Preisler said. "Just a 1 percent share of the Chinese pork market is $1 billion."
