This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 19, 2011 - WASHINGTON - On the same day that President Barack Obama met at the White House with Chinese President Hu Jintao, the effort to make St. Louis a key cargo hub with Chinese trade in the Midwest advanced what supporters called a "critical step."
China's designation of one of its major cargo airlines to take the lead in studying and negotiating details of the proposed St. Louis hub moved the project a bit closer to reality -- and generated lots of enthusiasm among the region's elected officials who support it.
The announcement Wednesday by the Midwest-China Hub Commission did not, in itself, sound terribly significant: that the China Cargo division of China Eastern airline had been named by China's civil aviation administration to study the feasibility of the route.
But the Hub Commission's chairman, Mike Jones, said the designation was "a key benchmark we have been diligently working toward." Calling China's action an "important part of the process of opening this new air trade route with China," he cautioned that "there is still much work to do. We are only at the feasibility stage, although the designation suggests there is considerable interest from the Chinese side."
The Hub Commission is a public-private collaboration that involves government officials and business associates in the St. Louis region and Missouri. Its negotiations with China's civil aviation body were conducted by a surrogate, the London Export Company, working on behalf of the commission.
Daniel P. Mehan, president of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and vice chair of the Hub Commission, called China's action "an important step in the process," although the talks with Chinese officials are "still a work in progress." He said in a statement that dedicated cargo flights between St. Louis and China "will spur economic development and trade throughout Missouri and the Midwest."
The chamber, Mehan said, "can play an important role to help identify opportunities to address back-haul, two-way trade, which has been a critical part of the negotiations. Our organization is also working to better understand the ongoing relationships that many Missouri businesses already have in China and to leverage those relationships and help other businesses expand into Chinese trade."
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, who was in Washington for the winter meeting of the National Conference of Mayors, told the Beacon that the announcement was an important step, "but now we have to work out the details in the negotiations."
Both of Missouri's U.S. senators also saw reason for optimism. "China's expanding middle class could be a huge market for American exports, and that's what we are trying to tap into," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. "This development will allow final negotiations to move forward, bringing us much closer to opening up a new trade route to bring Midwestern goods and agricultural products to China."
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., issued a statement saying that "St. Louis offers the perfect location, ideal space, and a strong workforce for this hub, and I look forward to the increased agriculture and manufacturing job creation and economic development that this initiative will bring to our state."
Gov. Jay Nixon issued this statement:
"This development is a crucial step toward turning the St. Louis region into a cargo hub for trade with China, which will benefit Missouri's economy immensely. I look forward to continuing to work with the Chinese government, the Missouri China Hub Commission, and the leadership of St, Louis to ensure that the Big Idea becomes a reality."
Lambert's director, Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, said in a statement Wednesday that China's designation of an airline to negotiate "is the news we've been waiting for." She added that "We are thrilled to have the designation of the carrier from China and look forward to negotiating with them with, hopefully, the prospect of launching this route in 2011."