WRITER: Julie Camp, 706/542-5172, lawcomm@uga.edu
CONTACT: C. Donald Johnson, 706/542-5135, johnsocd@uga.edu

Conference to focus on trade between the United States and China

ATHENS, Ga. – The economic relationship between the United States and China will be the focus of a conference sponsored by the University of Georgia Dean Rusk Center – International, Comparative and Graduate Legal Studies. The two-day conference, U.S.-China Trade: Opportunities and Challenges, will be held at the Sheraton Colony Square in Atlanta on April 14 and the UGA School of Law in Athens on April 15.

While the U.S. is already one of China’s largest trade partners, there are still enormous opportunities and challenges as China is home to one of the world’s fastest growing economies, according to C. Donald Johnson, the director of the Dean Rusk Center. “China’s dynamic economic growth and potential demand a better understanding of the challenges that face the economic relationship between our two countries and show a need for stronger ties between Georgia businesses and China. This is the prime motivator for organizing this conference.”

The conference’s speakers – business, legal and policy specialists from the government, academic and private sectors – will discuss investment, services, market access, agriculture, textiles, intellectual property and export controls in relation to trade between the two countries.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Theodore Kassinger will deliver the keynote address on April 14 in Atlanta. Additional speakers this same day are Wang Zhongnan, first secretary of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China Economic and Commercial Office; Robert Cassidy, former assistant U.S. trade representative for China; and David Weller, deputy assistant U.S. trade representative for China. Speakers in Athens on April 15 include Zhao Baoquing, first secretary (commercial) of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China; William Gillon, counsel for the National Textile Industry; and James Leonard, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of commerce.

For cost and registration information, please visit the conference’s Web site at http://www.law.uga.edu/china or contact Nelda Parker at nparker@uga.edu or 706/542-7875.

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