June 2021 Newsletter
New York to Guangzhou with no jet lag!
Image from Wikimedia
245 years ago next week, the United States declared its independence from Great Britain.

Less than six months after the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, the three-masted Empress of China sailed for Guangzhou. She was the first US ship to trade with China, and her successful trip started what is now 245 years of US-China trade.

Among those American families who benefited greatly from the China trade - including the sale of opium - were the New York Delanos... the "D" in FDR.

In the PRC, July also marks an important anniversary: July 23rd marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. Regardless of how you feel about the CCP, this anniversary - to be celebrated on July 1st - is a big deal in China.
In this issue of the Greater Columbus Chinese Chamber of Commerce newsletter, you will find the following:

  • Chinese Chamber Member Spotlight: City of New Albany

  • Chinese Chamber Member News

  • Chinese Chamber News

  • Community News

  • Past Events

  • Upcoming partner events:

  • July 8, The Trip That Changed the World: Commemorating Kissenger's 1971 Secret Trip to China - National Committee on US-China Relations

  • July 12, Indiana Language Roadmap - Indiana University (via America-China Society of Indiana)
Member Spotlight
Biotech giant Amgen just announced the construction of a new 270,000 square foot manufacturing facility in New Albany, an operation that will create 400 new jobs in Central Ohio, in addition to the construction work.

New Albany is home to many companies engaged with the Chinese-speaking world, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Accel, and Anomatic.

Click here to learn more about why companies locate in New Albany.
Member News
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company shared with us how teamwork and trust got the headquarters and China teams through the pandemic, and even to greater growth.

Read this compelling interview with Chief Digital Officer Patti Ziegler and Scotts China General Manager Ken Liu on our website here.
Think 7 Figures Magazine Spotlights Morrison Medical’s Personal Approach
 
In times of crisis, it is those who can quickly and properly respond who make the biggest difference. That’s especially true in EMS, where the stakes are high.

Think 7 Figures Magazine recently profiled Morrison Medical to discuss the company’s crisis response through its manufacturing process and customer service practices.

Managing Partner Kevin Jeffers explained how the company has spent the past 50 years at the forefront of EMS innovation and supply, mainly by focusing on determining market need and responding with high quality, well-priced medical items.
Chinese Chamber News
Meet Our Newest Teammates
We are pleased to have the additional help of Alyssa Johnson and Wang Gang this summer!

Alyssa is an OSU student who is drafting copy for members-only content, and Wang Gang is a career journalist and MBA student at Capital University.

Click on their names above and connect with them on LinkedIn; they will both soon be on the job market!
Chinese Chamber Member Quote of the Month

"The Chamber provides a great platform for D-Terra to share our experience with the Chinese Chamber community and also learn from its members."

Mike Billman, D-Terra Solutions
The EAGLE (Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment) Act of 2021 was introduced at the beginning of June and, if passed, will do the following:

● Eliminates the country cap for employment-based visas, and raises the cap from 7 to 15% for family-based visas.

● For the first time, employers who hire foreign workers will have to advertise the jobs to American workers on a searchable Department of Labor website for at-least 30 calendar days.

● For the first time, the Department of Labor will be authorized to set a fee to regulate the H1-B worker program.

● Employers with more than 50% foreign workers will not be able to hire any more foreign workers, ensuring a balance of American workers and immigrant workers.

● Adds whistleblower protection for employees who report illegal employer behavior to the government.

● Gives foreign workers who have approved Immigrant petitions the ability to change jobs so that their employers cannot exploit them.

● Makes it illegal for jobs to be advertised as “only available to H-1B workers” and ensures that H-1B workers cannot be given a preference over US Citizens.

● Requires employers to justify the wages offered to immigrant employees so an employer can’t undercut American workers by paying low wages to immigrants.

Readers of the Chinese Chamber newsletter may enjoy Trivium China's free daily newsletters, which boil down the hot topics in Chinese government and economics... and with humor.

To sign up, just go to their website. It can load a little slowly (they're in China!), but it'll get there!
Community News
Carnegie Mellon Professor of Math Loh Po-Shen to hold event Math in Games, Strategy, and Invention
Photo: China Christian Daily
Hosted by Daily Challenge with Po-Shen Loh, this fun and interactive math event at 7pm on June 29 is meant for students who will be in Grades 5–8 next school year, together with their families. It will discuss some games which appear simple at first glance, but turn out to have powerful strategies that become visible after changing to a mathematical perspective.

Click here for more details and registration.

Many thanks to the Midwest USA Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Cincinnati for sharing this event!
"Bus Ridership in Tainan Helping Reduce Taiwan's Carbon Footprint"
Columbus' sister city in Taiwan, Tainan, has been expanding bus routes and modernizing its fleet in recent years. It is one part of Taiwan's mission to reduce carbon emissions. The results have been significant. In the last decade, ridership is up from barely 7.5 million to 23 million annually.

Read more about it here.
"Nio Continues to Challenge Tesla"
William Li, the founder of Chinese electric carmaker Nio, has become a celebrity in China, and rightly so.

On the back of a $2.1 billion investment by the municipal government in Hefei* and steadily rising sales, can Nio challenge Tesla for electric vehicle supremacy in China?

Read more here.

* Hefei is Columbus' sister city in Mainland China
"Soccer, Crayfish, and Hubei Rebounding Economy"
The start of the Euro Cup Football has assisted the recovery of the crayfish market, specifically for Qianjiang, a Hubei* city known for crayfish farming.

For instance, at the start of June, the market for e-commerce sales of crayfish is up 117 percent, which is already a $3.54 billion industry.

Read more here.

* Hubei is Ohio's sister province in China
Recent Chinese Chamber Events
June 18 Skills Employees Seek in Global Employees
In this round table event, our panelists discussed the skills that employers working across borders seek, and how educational institutions prepare learners for those jobs.

Our panelists were:

  • Mike Billman, EVP for Sales & Marketing, D-Terra Solutions
  • Hannah Meyer, Vice President, Columbus Council on World Affairs
  • Jane Palmer, Associate Director for Global Commerce Programs, Denison University
  • Galal Walker, Director, National East Asian Language Resource Center, The Ohio State University

Chinese Chamber members will be soon be able to access a recording and report of this event on the members-only page of the Chinese Chamber website.
Upcoming Partner Events
July 8, 2021 9pm ET
The Trip that Changed the World: Commemorating Kissinger’s 1971 Secret Visit to China
The National Committee on US-China Relations invites you to a multi-part event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Dr. Henry Kissinger’s secret trip to China, featuring live remarks by Dr. Kissinger and a senior Chinese leader. The event will take place at Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guest House; you can join virtually on July 8 at 9:00 p.m. EDT

Organized by the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) with assistance from the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, a variety of components comprise the commemorative event: 

Keynote | Dr. Kissinger and a senior Chinese leader reflect on the significance of the July 1971 visit

Panel 1 | Eye Witnesses to History: Participants from the 1971 Kissinger secret trip and 1972 Nixon visit discuss the visit itself and its historical importance
  • Chinese Panelists: Ambassador Lian Zhengbao and Ms. Nancy Tang
  • American Panelists: Ambassadors Winston Lord and Chas Freeman
  • Moderator: Ms. Jan Berris

Panel 2 | Beneficiaries of the Visit: Representatives from the business, education, and entertainment communities comment on the modern legacy of Kissinger’s visit 
  • American Panelists: Dr. Brent Haas (Yenching Academy, Peking University), Mr. Ben Harburg (MSACapital),and Ms. Yvonne Pei (Walt Disney Company, Greater China) 
  • Chinese Panelists: Mr. Huang Xianhui (Fosun Group), Dr. Robert Hong Xiao (Perfect World Co Ltd), and Mr. Xie Yuan (Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries)
  • Moderator: Mr. Wang Guan (CGTN). 

Performance | The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Chinese National Symphony Orchestra: Quartets from the orchestras involved in the earliest music exchange between the United States and People’s Republic of China perform short selections.

Please visit here for registration.

July 12, 2021 12 noon
Indiana Language Roadmap Community Showcase
Learn about projects around Indiana that are supporting their multilingual and multicultural Indiana Hoosiers, network with others, and discuss how we can strengthen our globally-connected communities.

There will be presentations from great organizations such as the Immigrant Welcome Center, the Indianapolis Sister Cities Teachers and Student Outreach Committee, and the International Center. Network with fellow attendees on a variety of business, social services, and education topics.

This free, virtual event is open to all interested members of the public.

This event may be interesting to those in Central Ohio who would like to compare what Indiana has done with its Language Roadmap initiative, and Ohio's.

Register for this free online event here.
Chinese Chamber Members
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