Beijing -- Gov. Sonny Perdue snipped a ceremonial red ribbon Wednesday to officially open Georgia's newly minted trade office in China's capital city, signaling the state's most serious effort yet to tap into the world's fastest-growing economy.

"It gives me great pleasure to open the doors between Georgia and China a little wider," Perdue told about 100 guests who included Georgia business representatives, Chinese leaders and U.S. and Chinese reporters.

Secretary of State Karen Handel called the Georgia Business Advisory Center in China an "integral first step" to jump-start commerce between the nation of 1.3 billion people and Georgia's business community.

"We hope to see ya'll in Georgia real soon," said Handel, who called for a "harmonious" relationship between the state and the communist country with a freewheeling free-market economy. The words "harmony" and "harmonious" were used repeatedly by Georgia officials Wednesday -- all for Chinese consumption.

"It's a very important word," said Albert Hodge of the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce. "In China, it symbolizes trust and strong bonds in relationships."

Wednesday was a frenetic day for the 40-member Georgia trade delegation in Beijing, a traffic-snarled metropolis of about 16.5 million residents, nearly equal to the population of Australia.

Georgia visitors lunched with Chinese businessmen and cyclists Yu Tong and Xing Yan Dong, who will be part of the first Chinese cycling team in the 2008 Tour de Georgia. They met with officials of the China Council for the Promotion of Trade and sipped hot jasmine tea while talking commerce. And they capped the day with a 300-person banquet at the Ritz-Carlton, sponsored by Coca-Cola.

"It's clear, very clear, that China will play a large role in Georgia's future," Perdue told the gathering, which was entertained by the University of Georgia jazz band.

The trade office has been years in the making and puts Georgia in the ranks of the 28 other states and U.S. cities with similar offices in the People's Republic of China. It is Georgia's 11th overseas trade office.

Most of the other U.S. offices are in Shanghai, the business center of the country. Only 11 are located in Beijing, but Georgia made a conscious effort to break from the crowd.

"We believe that since government and business are so closely linked in China that we'll get a bigger hit by having our office in Beijing," said Ken Stewart, Georgia's Commissioner of the Department of Economic Development.

Hans Gant, executive vice president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, said most business recruitment still will happen through Shanghai. But locating the Georgia trade office in Beijing is "good strategy," he said.

"Having a strong relationship between the state government and the Chinese government is very important," he said. "I think it will open a lot of doors."

The office opened its doors at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in China, or about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday Atlanta time.

Georgia kicked off its trade office in conjunction with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines' first nonstop daily flight from Atlanta to Shanghai, China's business center. The first flight landed in Shanghai earlier this week.