Mayor Francis Slay, Lambert Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, and a delegation of local and state officials are headed back to China last week as members of the Midwest/China Commission continue their efforts to make St. Louis a center of China's Midwest trade. Reflecting a relatively unusual coordination of the region's public and private assets, the idea of a cargo hub - a location near Lambert that would be a headquarters for Chinese companies operating in the central United States and a port for Midwestern companies exporting high-value goods to China through Lambert - has made important progress over the past couple of years.
Beyond pitching strong markets, good exports (Missouri sent more than $1 billion of goods to China in 1997), central geography, world-class research facilities, well-developed rail/river/road infrastructure, and affordability, the St. Louis delegation can certainly mention some history. The 1904 World's Fair here was China's first major appearance as a modern nation. According to The New York Times, the Chinese dispatched a royal prince and a Yale-educated senior official to establish a major presence in St. Louis. The Chinese Pavilion and Exhibition Hall were generally considered to be among the grandest and most visited of the Fair's many wonders. |
