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July 14, 2004 — It seems like you can’t open a newspaper these days without reading about a new Chinese factory opening or a new collaboration between U.S. and Chinese universities. Now private and public state economic development groups are getting in on the action, connecting U.S. companies and universities with their Chinese counterparts in a bid to drive economic prosperity through cross-cultural ties.
In late May, the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) sent a delegation of about 20 representatives from academia, business and the financial community on a trip to China. The state of New York’s economic development organization is planning a similar trip later this year.
“The purpose of it was to better understand the opportunities there,” said Roy Doumani, the acting chief operating officer of CNSI who spearheaded the recent trip.
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After representatives arrived in China and began meeting researchers and touring facilities, Doumani said, “people realized that some of the research taking place there was very cutting edge.”
CNSI had previously brokered a deal between its affiliated universities — University of California, Los Angeles and University of California, Santa Barbara — with Zhejiang University in the city of Hangzhou, located about two hours from Shanghai.
However, while that agreement supported academic collaboration on nanotechnology research, the intent of the more recent five-day trip was to extend collaborations to the industrial sector.
By all accounts, the trip was deemed a success, with the most notable example being a deal between Zhejiang University and CTI Molecular Imaging Inc., a Knoxville, Tenn.-provider of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging equipment and services.
Tom Hook, CTI’s senior vice president, said that the participation of CNSI eliminated a lot of guesswork and saved his company an enormous amount of time.
“You can talk to a lot of people and get nothing done if you don’t talk to the right people,” Hook said. “CNSI knew who had the authority and responsibility to cut deals and who were the scientists, departments and spinoffs (to speak with).”
Under the 10-year deal, CTI will provide Zhejiang University with a $1 million microPET scanner, which is used to image small animals. In exchange, CTI will have access to research taking place at Zhejiang University, some of which will utilize the microPET scanner to compare various forms of cancer treatments.
CTI’s agreement is designed to support additional projects as research progresses. It will also have access to research areas that do not involve the scanner, such as microfluidics.
While visiting China this May, the California delegation met with government officials, researchers and even members of the country’s venture capital community, according to Doumani. Coming next in September of this year, he said, will be a reciprocal visit by Chinese officials, researchers and business leaders to California. Talks are also underway for representatives of individual companies to plan follow-up visits to China.
California groups are not the only organizations scouting out Chinese nanotechnology research. New York Governor George Pataki has asked the Empire State Development Corp. to plan a China trip in October, according to Charles Gargano, the agency’s chairman and commissioner.
Gargano said the trip would likely include visits to Beijing, Shanghai and other locations. He added that the trip would be more about developing Chinese markets than connecting with the country’s cutting-edge research.
“We look at what New York products do we believe can be used in China,” Gargano explained. And then, he said, “we look at the industries where they need our product and we connect with the heads of industry.”
He said 10 to 20 leaders of organizations in those industries would be invited to attend what is likely to be a weeklong trip.