Snyder, Duggan pitch Michigan mobility in China

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan joined Gov. Rick Snyder in pitching Michigan as the home for the “reinvention of the transportation industry” Wednesday, when they attended the largest science and technological fair in China.

The two are currently on the tail end of an eight-day investment mission in China, which has the governor visiting several Chinese cities in an effort to increase exports from Michigan to China. Duggan joined Snyder Wednesday.

Snyder and Duggan have not partnered on a trade mission before. On Wednesday, they spoke at the China Hi-Tech Fair in Shenzhen on the state’s and city’s prowess in the technology field, and the Planet M campaign, which was designed to leverage the state’s automotive industry and be a consortium to support the development of mobility innovations in the Great Lakes State.

Earlier this week, Snyder presided over the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s Automotive Office and the Shanghai International Automobile City aimed at boosting communication and cooperation between Michigan and China.

Snyder is in China until Nov. 19 on his sixth investment mission to the country.

In 2011, Snyder took his first mission to Asia. Since then, Michigan has received nearly $650 million in new business investment from China in different automotive companies. Among these investments are new manufacturing facility in Cadillac from Zhongding, a subsidiary of Anhui Zhongding Sealing Parts, and new U.S. headquarters for CW Bearing, a subsidiary of Ningbo, China-based Cixing Group Co. Ltd., in Northville Township.

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