Our 2010 China trade mission, a part of our China EZPath Program and the tenth annual mission since 2001, will begin registration soon. Similar to previous years, the 2010 mission and the associated matchmaking conferences will be co-organized by National League of Cities and more than 20 other organizations, and will be a pre-matchmaking, and across-industry-lines event. The focuses of 2010 mission are to help US small-medium-sized companies (SMCs) increase export to China and meet their other business development needs. This year, the conference will be held in Shanghai and possible other cities in June 2010.

Differing from the previous years, the 2010 trade mission will take place at a very specific time. The question is why we should go to China when the crisis may not be over yet. The answers are very simple:

1. The 4 trillion RMB (USD$586 billion) stimulus plan of Chinese government will provide a tremendous opportunity for US SMEs. Even though China is considered "the workshop of the world”, many high end high quality products needed by Chinese are still imported from overseas. US export to China increased by about 10% (9.536%) in 2008 in comparing with 2007, despite the out-breaking of the crisis and recession.
   
   
2. During the recession time, the price level of many Chinese products is historically low. It is a good opportunity for US SMEs to trim the cost, lower the operating expenses, and improve the profit margin that are the keys for US SMEs surviving from this crisis.
   
   
3. As Secretary Hillary Clinton mentioned when she visited China, US and China need to join the hands to pull the world economy out of recession. Chinese Premier also promised that China will be the first country to step out of recession. Consequently, China sets up its GDP growth target for 2009: no less than 8%. At a market with 1.3 billion in population and no less than 8% growth, US SMEs should not let the opportunities skip away.
   
   
4. Finally, as before, USCEA will provide US SMEs with the easy and fast access to China market, the efficiency of one-stop shopping, and very competitive cost for the trip. By simply filling the matchmaking request form, the US SMCs will be pre-matched with at least 2-5 Chinese companies at each city visited and start a face-to-face meeting with these pre-matched and many more un-pre-matched companies in just a few months. For the cost, while other high level and high quality trips and conferences usually charge high prices, our mission is an exception: high quality with low price. Given the sponsorships that our association received, the cost for the entire trip is only about 30% - 50% of any other comparable missions. For example, the last year’s travel expenses to Shanghai, Changsha, Chengdu, and Beijing for about 10 days staying in 4-5 star hotels are pretty much same as one traveling to New York, LA and Washington, DC, staying in 3-star hotels, with much that you won’t get from the domestic trips in the USA: banquets, cultural tours, entertainment, and much more. But most importantly, the Chinese market! It is an International Business at Domestic Expense. As a result, the quite unique combination of these features makes our annual trade mission and the associated matchmaking conferences in China valuable and welcomed events, joined by many SMCs each year and other organizations as well.