Q&A with Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (2)

Q: How do you see the potential in building further business collaboration with China?

A: There are lots; there are lots; because of the automotive industry and the agricultural area, two areas that have really been highlighted, but almost any area, that there’s common ground to do business. It’s very exciting.

There’re many market opportunities in China, the sales in China, the export and the new business here. And also, Michigan is one of the open places for business that encourage international trade, immigrants to come; an exciting place.

We have been working diligently to improve Michigan’s business climate and are here to open new doors for trade and business between our state and China. We want to get the message out that Michigan is open for business too, because we’ve gone through very difficult times.

We think we have great values now in Michigan and we are creating a very competitive environment for enterprises to succeed and do well. We’ve redone our tax system, our regulatory system; we’ve just balanced our budget. So we’re doing many things to be very business-friendly. Michigan is already one of the top 10 U.S. states receiving direct investment from China. There're at least 50 Chinese auto-related companies that have set up shops in the Detroit area.

Q: Anything else you want to speak to the press?

A: Well, what I want to say is that Michigan had been behind in building relationship from a government’s perspective. And we are very excited about the opportunity. We are going to be very quickly to show that what we're doing are action-based, not just stand and talk, in terms of being among the most business-friendly states in our entire country.

Q: Thank you, Governor Snyder.

A: Thank you.