Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed heads to China, hoping for "big win"

By Jeremiah McWilliams and Leon Stafford

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed will look for two signs to gauge success from next month’s trade mission to China: Small Atlanta companies dipping their toes in the East Asian nation for the first time, and Chinese companies and investors setting down roots in the metro area.

During the trip March 23-31, Reed will extol the city’s capacity to handle air and rail cargo, its colleges and universities and the potential deepening of the Port of Savannah, which could drive even more commerce through the city. But Reed said the main goal of the trip — his first trade mission to China — is to build Atlanta’s export business, giving small and medium-sized companies entry into the world’s second-largest economy.

“We need a strong financial relationship with China over the next 10 to 20 years,” Reed told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently. “It has to start somewhere.”

The trip could cost taxpayers thousands of dollars for the city’s delegation. An exact cost estimate has not been worked out because the city has not announced who will travel from the mayor’s staff or City Council . The advertised cost ranges from $3,700 to $8,300 per person for airfare, ground transportation, hotels and visa fees, depending on whether participants fly coach or business class. City leaders said the payoff could be enormous.

In Sunday’s newspaper, the AJC previews Mayor Reed's trip to China. It’s a story you’ll get only by picking up a copy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution or logging on to the paper’s iPad app. Subscribe today.