Georgia's capital has been a growing economic force in a rapidly globalizing economy. Our airport, the busiest in the world, has been instrumental in this growth.

The advent of daily nonstop flights between Atlanta and the mega port city of Shanghai in eastern China, started by Delta Air Lines on March 30, is rightly being hailed for the myriad benefits it should bring. Atlanta now becomes the Southeast's gateway to one of the world's fastest-growing economies.

The Atlanta-Shanghai flight could not have come at a more opportune time. Sany, a Chinese maker of heavy equipment, announced last September it plans to invest up to $100 million to build its first North American assembly plant in Peachtree City, where it will also have its U.S. headquarters. Just last week, while on a business mission to China, Gov. Sonny Perdue announced that Pax Technology, a Chinese software maker, will locate its U.S. headquarters in Georgia.

There is every reason to believe that the convenience of this route and the attention being paid to China by Georgia's political and industrial leaders will lead to far more business between China and Atlanta.

There is precedent for the regional growth effect of ease of travel. Just look at the BMW and Mercedes-Benz plants in the South and the flights to multiple cities in Germany. Hyundai opened a $1.4 billion plant in Montgomery at about the same time direct flights to Seoul were initiated; the announcement of a major investment in Georgia by Kia came soon thereafter.

It's not always clear if the flights precede the investments, but they clearly go hand-in-hand. The nonstop flight to China, an economic giant that is growing at more than 10 percent a year, will benefit everyone. While the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games may be the catalyst (we can only speculate), the economic impact will be real. Just look at the benefits the 1996 Olympics brought to Georgia in terms of infrastructure, reputation and access.

The economic transformation of both Georgia and China has been remarkable. Atlanta has grown over the past half century into a major diversified economic hub and a headquarters magnet. Over the past two decades, China has morphed from a small economy into the third-largest in the world. China will likely surpass Japan within a few years.

The purpose of Perdue's recent mission trip to China was to establish an upward trajectory for symbiotic Georgia-China interactions. This week, Kennesaw State University President Daniel S. Papp is in China to sign an agreement that will bring a Confucius Institute to campus. The second one in Georgia, the institute will play a key role in promoting Chinese language and culture in the region.

This confluence of events makes Atlanta and its business community well-positioned to quickly cement relationships with businesses and agencies in China, further ensuring our continued economic centrality.

We owe a debt of gratitude to those wise business and political leaders —- including Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, who led a delegation of Georgia business leaders to China in 2006 —- who saw the potential of our community and of the South, those leaders who sought developments leveraging our true strategic advantage of Southern hospitality at jet-set speeds, including what has turned into a world leader: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Its status as the busiest in the world is not just ornamental.

It means that Atlanta is rapidly becoming a top world player. Atlanta needed the direct flight to China to continue booming.

It's one more step in the right direction.

> Joe Astrachan is the executive director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center at the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University. Tim Blumentritt is director of the International Center at the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University.