OREANDA-NEWS. December 19, 2014. In 1979, Deng Xiaoping put an enormous cowboy hat on his head at a Texas rodeo and grinned for the cameras.

Thirty-five years later, Texas officials are still giving the hats to visiting Chinese officials as they seek to increase trade, reports MAY ZHOU in Houston.

"The Chinese investors are coming. Are you ready?"

That was the question posed by Clarence Kwan, senior partner of Sino-Century China Overseas Investment Partners, at a recent business discussion hosted by Houston's Asian Chamber of Commerce. Chinese investors have come and more are coming to the Lone Star State. The latest available data tell the story:

With USD10.8 billion in exports, China was the state's fourth-largest export destination in 2013. The major exports are industrial and electric machinery, chemicals, plastics and mineral fuel. Texas ranked third in exports to China after Washington and California, both of which exported more than USD 16 billion of goods to China in 2013.

In the same year, Texas imported USD 42.8 billion worth of Chinese goods, making China number two among the state's trading partners. The top imports include electric and industrial machinery, furniture, toys and iron or steel products.

Chinese companies have spent USD 22.2 billion to acquire Texas companies in M&As in the last decade, making it perhaps the largest investment category by Chinese investors so far.

From 2000 to the first three quarters of 2014, 79 Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with a total value of USD 5.3 billion have settled in Texas. The state has attracted more than 12 percent of the total of USD 43.1 billion in Chinese FDI projects in the United States. That makes Texas number two in the US behind California.

James Chen, Asia/Pacific director of the state's economic development and tourism division, has seen or helped a lot of the Chinese projects get into Texas. He said that FDI projects have picked up.

"I am seeing explosive growth in this area since last year. With Texas being an energy state, some of the projects are huge and the investment dollars often amount to billions. But we are also seeing more and more medium and small-sized companies as well as individual investors coming to Texas," he told China Daily.

In 2013, Sinopec USA, a subsidiary of one of the largest state-owned Chinese oil and gas companies, Sinopec Group, opened an R&D branch in Houston, where it already has a few operations.

Also in 2013, PetroChina International (America) Inc moved its headquarters to Houston from New Jersey. Its president, Li Shaolin, said the move has helped Petro China expand its oil products trade. The company has since increased the number of local employees to more than 80 from 50.

Business exchanges between Texas and China show no sign of slowing down.

On Monday, a delegation from Gansu province arrived in Austin, the state capital, at the invitation of Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and commissioner-elect Sid Miller.
The meeting was held to increase agriculture trade between Texas and Gansu, population 26 million.

Exporting Texas beef to Gansu is one of Miller's priorities. With 11 million head of cattle in the Lone Star State, Texas leads the nation in beef production. The beef industry generates more than USD 10 billion for the state.

On Nov 19, a Chinese trade delegation's visit to the state was organized by the China International Contractor Association (CICA) under the directive of China's Ministry of Commerce. That visit reciprocated Texas Governor Rick Perry's trip to China in September to promote the state, according to Chen. While visiting Beijing, Perry was received by Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli, one of the seven standing committee members of the Politburo.

Chen, who helped plan and joined Perry's visit to China, said that in Beijing Perry signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Texas and Tianjin, Fujian, Shandong, Jiangsu and Sichuan, recognizing the importance of developing and expanding ties of cooperation through business, trade, investment, tourism, education and research and development.

In addition, a joint task force of the governor's office and China's commerce ministry was formed to support Chinese investment in Texas.

In October, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings joined a trade mission to China. Price discussed China's NGC Renewables's opening a new transmission plant later this year at the Alliance Texas Industrial Park. NGC Renewables also announced that Fort Worth will serve as its North America headquarters.

"The Chinese companies are encouraged to expand internationally and make overseas investment by their government, and the Texas government wants to attract more foreign investment. The need is well-matched on both sides and we are here to help," said Chen.