Most local government officials in the US still welcome Chinese-invested projects despite a rise in trade tensions this year, a Chinese chamber of commerce leader said this week as potential investors weigh up economic benefits and geopolitical risks.
City leaders want Chinese investment to help stimulate their local economies, especially in manufacturing projects that are hard to source elsewhere, said Ni Pin, chairman of the China General Chamber of Commerce branch in Chicago.
“There are a lot of people who want to come over here,” he said. “They are more concerned about geopolitics. The question is, ‘are you welcome here?’”
Chinese manufacturers see the potential to make money in the wealthy United States market, he said, and US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports have increased the urgency for companies to produce in the US for domestic sales.
Ni said that “yelling and screaming” by national-level political leaders had deterred some investors from applying for investment permits because they feared that American officials at the local level would also prefer they stay away.
In the Midwestern states of Illinois and Wisconsin, mayors are “very receptive” to Chinese investment, said Ker Gibbs, a partner at American business advisory Foresight Restructuring, citing personal contacts in the region.
The mayor of Wausau, a city in Wisconsin with a population of 40,000, is explicitly looking for Chinese investments linked to agriculture and possibly the automotive sector, given that industry’s prominence in surrounding parts of the Midwest, Kerr said.
