by Claudia Bruemmer

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his delegation left for China, Japan and South Korea Sunday, December 4 to boost investment, trade and tourism in Los Angeles. The OnGreen Chinese Roadshow joined the Mayor’s delegation in China, as did Jason Prescott, CEO of TopTenWholesale/Manufacturer.com, who left Saturday to meet with Jiaozhou City leaders for executing a Memorandum of Understanding between Jiaozhou, Manufacturer.com and China Mart Los Angeles that will create jobs and foreign investment in Los Angeles.

The photo above shows Mayor Villaraigosa shaking hands at the China World Hotel in Beijing with the CEO of Z-Park (Zhongguancun Science Park) with Prescott and Nikhil Jain looking on at the far right. The group was en route to former treasury secretary Henry Paulson’s conference on urban sustainability.

When asked what TopTenWholesale.com and The ChinaMart Group has to gain from this trip, Prescott said, “Our Company has had a deep rooted interest in China for many years. Bringing some of the key relationships we have in many sectors to the attention of the city will further economic activity in Los Angeles at a time when job growth, foreign investment and tourism are at the forefront of everyone’s agenda.” Continuing, Prescott added, “We hope that by obtaining favorable conditions to expand in Los Angeles for the Chinese businesses and governments we represent will encourage them to invest in one of the world’s greatest and most diverse economies can easily be made.”

OnGreen Chinese Roadshow

Los Angeles-based OnGreen, the green technology business marketplace, selected a number of Los Angeles-based entrepreneurs, to participate in its road trip to China with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Companies in the roadshow include business-to-business global trade platform for sourcing manufacturers Manufacturer.com based in Los Angeles, wholesale sourcing platform TopTenWholesale based in Los Angeles, along with 350Green, a company designing a network of EV charging stations, BeiAng Technology, a developer of air purification technology; Cogent Energy Systems, which creates waste-to-energy technology; Eutricity, a building energy-optimization firm; and Bacterial Robotics/Pilus Energy, which develops electricity and biogas from waste technology. OnGreen’s road show and trip to China is co-hosted by the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. OnGreen is also backed by a number of Chinese investors.

The roadtrip’s goal is to match top U.S. companies with potential investors and partners from around the world. Companies must either be based in Los Angeles or have plans to establish business there to be eligible. Events will be held in Shanghai, Chongqing and Beijing.

Over the 11 day trip, the Mayor will visit Beijing, Chongqing and Shanghai in China; Tokyo and Sendai in Japan; and Seoul in South Korea. He will speak to business and trade groups, host receptions for customers of the city’s port and airports, and meet with business and political leaders. “The future of Los Angeles is tied closely to our neighbors in the Pacific Rim,” said the Mayor. “We must leverage our assets in this global marketplace to create jobs here in Los Angeles,” he added.

The businessmen joining the mayor are an elite group including a former White House chief of staff, a former U.S. commerce secretary, a top official at an investment management firm, two top officials from a rapidly expanding fashion firm and the head of the U.S. pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.

China’s market promises tremendous potential, and it will import a huge amount of goods over the next five years, with a value as high as 8 trillion dollars. Los Angeles has been playing the role of a bridge between China and the U.S., and plans to take advantage of this opportunity by further promoting its cooperation with China.

Mayor Villaraigosa’s visit to China will further strengthen the friendly relationship between Los Angeles and Chinese cities, promote bi-lateral and two-way trade and investment, while attracting more Chinese visitors to Los Angeles. “We are uniquely ready for continuing to grow trade, tourism and investment with China,” said the Mayor, “and have added three daily non-stop flights this year between Chinese cities and Los Angeles.”