On Monday, October 1st, representatives from the City of San Antonio, led by Mayor Hardberger and comprised of city and business leaders, returned from a ten-day trade mission to China. Cities included in the trade mission were Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Xian. The purpose of the trade mission was to further promote our city as a logistics solution to the increasingly busy west coast ports , to promote San Antonio as a location for foreign investment and to research possible sister city relationships in China. The delegation included Diane Cibrian, City Councilwoman for District 8, Pat DiGiovanni, Deputy City Manager, Wayne Alexander, Chairman of the Board of Port San Antonio, Bruce Miller, President of Port San Antonio, Kyle Burns, President of the Free Trade Alliance, Elizabeth Costello, Director of the International Affairs Department for the City of San Antonio, Elisa Chan, President of Unintech Consulting Engineers, and Richard M. Kleberg of SFD Enterprises, among others. The delegation met with various government officials, including Chen Bao Gen, Mayor of Xian, Presidents of the American Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong, South China and Shanghai, US Consul General Cunningham in Hong Kong, US Consul General Goldberg in Guangzhou, Weng Wen Xiang, President of the China Council for the Promotion of Trade, various representatives and members of the Shenzhen Federation of Logistics & Purchasing, Wu Zengqi, Vice President of ZTE, a telecommunications equipment manufacturer, Sloan Gao, Vice President Shanghai R&D Center for Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and various other organizations interested in the utilization of Port San Antonio services or investment in San Antonio. The delegation also met with over 100 business leaders at a reception in Guangzhou, hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in South China and with over 40 Chinese alumni of the UTSA MBA and executive MBA program, allowing San Antonio to maintain and grow those business relationships in China. China is the third largest export market for Texas, behind Mexico and Canada with exports to China from Texas in 2006 of $6,643,000,000, an increase of 35.5% over 2005. China is the 2nd largest trading partner of the United States and accounts for 11.9% of our total trade as a country. The trade mission was organized by the Free Trade Alliance San Antonio. The Free Trade Alliance was created in 1994 to lead the development of San Antonio as a multi-modal port and competitive international trade center. A public private organization, the Alliance promotes, develops and facilitates international business and trade for the entire San Antonio region through foreign investment, trade development and advocacy efforts.