By

One month after the outsourcing of jobs overseas became the hot-button topic of the Wisconsin Democratic primaries, Gov. Jim Doyle embarked March 19 on an 11-day visit to China as part of the largest trade mission in state history.

The mission seeks to promote not job outsourcing, but rather the establishment of greater trading ties between Wisconsin and the burgeoning Asian economic power.

“The goal of this mission is to help build personal relationships between businesspeople in China and Wisconsin — relationships that may ultimately lead to new opportunities for us to sell more of our products to the Chinese,” Doyle wrote from China in his official mission blog.

The Wisconsin delegation marks the second-largest trade mission of its kind from any state in the United States ever to visit China. According to Wisconsin Department of Commerce communications director Tony Hozeny, Doyle’s presence on the trip “adds a level of prestige that will allow the group greater access to high-level Chinese government officials.”

Doyle is being accompanied on the trip by Wisconsin business leaders looking to explore new markets for their products in the Asian nation. Exports to China have increased rapidly in the last few years; Wisconsin’s exports to the country increased 53 percent last year, and opportunities for trade will continue to emerge as China’s booming middle-class expands.

The mission will visit the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Hong Kong as the delegation explores the country that currently owns the world’s fastest-growing economy. China currently ranks as the fourth-largest foreign importer of Wisconsin products, a huge change from the early 1990s, when it was not even among the top 30 importers of state products.

While many blame cheap foreign labor in countries such as China for the recent loss of jobs in Wisconsin, Hozeny is quick to point out that increased relationships with China will have a positive impact on the state’s economy.

“Exports have been a real bright spot in Wisconsin lately,” Hozeny said, noting that Wisconsin’s growth in export revenue has exceeded the national average for the last several years. “The trade mission will create a definite visibility factor. People in China will learn about Wisconsin products — name recognition, if you will — and increase demand for products made here.”

The trade mission is part of Doyle’s “Grow Wisconsin” initiative, a plan designed to create jobs and establish a “high-end” state economy. According to Hozeny, companies highly involved in exporting have been found to pay higher wages.

State Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, who is accompanying Doyle on the trade mission, agrees that searching for new opportunities to export products will benefit Wisconsin’s economy.

“We must step up our efforts to reverse the tide of jobs going to China and substitute it with products exported to China that are ‘made in America,'” Jauch said in a press release. “In this fast-growing, internationally competitive marketplace, it is critical for Wisconsin to aggressively promote the quality products produced in our state.”