9th Annual CHINA Town Hall: October 5th 2015

Post updated 11/5/2015

The World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, The National Committee on U.S China Relations (NCUSCR), the leading national, non-partisan public affairs organization devoted exclusively to building constructive and durable relationships between the United States and China, and Arcadia University as the location host all partnered for the October 5th locally attended China program and the nation-wide webcast.   The WTCGP and the NCUSCR collaborated on the two part program consisting of the local presentation exclusively for the WTCGP CEOs’ China Operations Club members with an insightful roundtable provided by The Hershey Company on their China World operations.  Milton P. Brice, Vice President, Finance, Hershey International discussed Hershey's story of numerous challenges and successes in the strategic planning for their China investment, setting up manufacturing and building sales operations. Hershey's acquired a Chinese company in 2013, and opened its Asia Innovation Center and new Hershey's Chocolate World stores in Shanghai.  The Fredericks Company was the sponsor for evening’s Chinese buffet enjoyed by all during Mr. Brice’s colorful presentation followed by lively discussion on how Hershey planned for entering the market, researched consumer tastes (because while everyone loves chocolate, the flavors and packaging vary by country) and established their China World consumer stores.  
 
The CEOs’ China Operations Club meeting was then followed by the live, 79 location nation-wide NCUSCR China Town Hall webcast. The program partners saw a great turnout for the live webcast of expert panelists featuring Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Mayor Sheldon Day of Thomasville, Alabama, and Daniel Rosen, founding partner of Rhodium Group.
 
Mr. Rubin led the expert panel for a live, interactive “town hall” meeting. The topic of the night was the impact China’s investments in the United States are having on American workers, communities, and the economy. China has rapidly emerged as one of the fastest growing sources of foreign direct investment in the United States, bringing increasing numbers of Chinese companies into U.S communities and providing jobs to tens of thousands of Americans, as described in the May 2015 report “New Neighbors: Chinese Investment in the United States by Congressional District,” released by the National Committee and the Rhodium Group. While foreign direct investment is a vital component of U.S economic growth, employment and competitiveness, media coverage of a few high profile Chinese investments has focused on security and economic risks. 
 
The Pennsylvania report subsection contains local area China investment information: Pennsylvania Report

View a replay of the China Town Hall meeting

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