China General Chamber of Commerce U.S.A – Chicago

Chinese Investment in the United States: The Path Forward Series

Throughout 2018, CGCC-USA partnered with four of its regional chapters to hold “Chinese Investment in the United States: The Path Forward” forum series in five different locations across the U.S.: New York, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Each stop of the forum brought together over 180 top U.S. and Chinese business professionals, local state and county officials and community leaders to discuss CGCC’s 2018 Annual Business Survey Report, the various challenges faced by American and Chinese companies in the ongoing trade war, their ways to navigate these challenges, and provided a platform to present their predictions on the future of the U.S.- China business relationship.

Stop 1: New York

On July 30th, CGCC-USA partnered with HSBC to host its fourth annual China Forum at the Time Warner Center in New York. The event marked the first stop of the “Chinese Investment in the U.S.: The Path Forward” forum in its national roadshow.

Luis Fiallo, Managing Director of Business Development at China Telecom Americas; Shuguang Wang, CGCC Executive Board Member, Managing Director and Head of U.S. Operation at Broad Group; and Elaine La Roche, CEO of China International Capital Corporation U.S. discussed how their companies were impacted by the trade war and shared their strategies in coping with these challenges. The panel was moderated by Andy Serwer, Editor in Chief at Yahoo Finance.

Stop 2: Houston

On August 29th, CGCC-USA and CGCC-Houston jointly held the “Chinese Investment in the U.S.: The Path Forward” forum in Houston, Texas. Charlie Yao, CEO of YCI Methanol One, and Bob Harvey, President & CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership took part in a “Fireside Chat” where they both agreed that the international character, friendly business environment and easy access to transportation make Texas, especially Houston, an attractive destination to international investors. Dexter Burleigh, President and CEO of Surge Energy, Shau Zhang, the Americas COIN Market Leader of China Overseas Investment at EY; and Ramiro Rodriguez, Business Development Leader at Jacobs shared their experiences of operating businesses with Chinese stakeholders in the U.S. and their observations on the trade war and its impact.

Stop 3: Chicago

On September 19th, CGCC-Chicago’s 2018 Annual Gala “Connection” served as the third stop for the “Chinese Investment in the U.S.: The Path Forward” forum series. As part of a panel discussion moderated by Michael McDonough, Chief Economist and Financial Products at Bloomberg L.P.; Dave Rank, Senior Advisor of The Cohen Group and Former Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy to China; Jim Reynolds, Founder and Chairman & CEO of Loop Capital; Liu Jiang, Partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP; and Luis Fiallo, Managing Director of Business Development at China Telecom Americas shared their thoughts on CFIUS, tariff barriers, the trade war, globalization and commercial culture from a business angle and policy perspective.

Stop 4: Washington, D.C.

On October 30th, CGCC-USA and CGCC-D.C. jointly held “The Path Forward” forum in Washington, D.C. The forum featured remarks by Ambassador Cui Tiankai and a screening of “Better Angels”, a documentary on China-US relations. During the forum’s dialogue, Dave Rank, Senior Advisor of The Cohen Group and Former Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy to China; Mack McLarty, Chairman of McLarty Associates and Former White House Chief of Staff; and David Dreier, Chairman of Annenberg-Dreier Commission and Former Chairman of the House Rules Committee all emphasized the importance of strengthening the China-U.S. bilateral relationship.

Stop 5: Los Angeles

On November 27th, CGCC-USA and CGCC-LA hosted “China-U.S. Dialogue: The Path Forward” forum as part of the “Chinese Investment in the U.S.: The Path Forward” series at Hotel Indigo in Downtown Los Angeles.

The forum featured a panel discussion with Steven Dai, Vice Chairman of CGCC and President & CEO of International Vitamin Corporation; Eric Provenzano, Senior Vice President at AECOM Tishman; and Patrick Duan, Vice President of Operations and SkyRail at BYD Motors. The panel was moderated by Steve Olson, Chairman of World Trade Center Los Angeles and Partner at O’Melveny & Myers.