China-ASU link blossoms

The real estate endeavor spans oceans. Arizona State University is going all the way to China to court new tenants for its $300 million research center in Scottsdale.

Officials from Chengdu, China, visited ASU on Tuesday, checking out the university's state-of-the-art research park and facilities in Tempe, while ASU and Scottsdale officials made their sales pitches.

Since the late 1970s, when China began opening its borders to more trade, ASU has been nurturing a relationship with Chinese research institutes and universities. The university also is using its China ties to help Arizona businesses.

China is emerging as an economic powerhouse in global trade. The Communist country has invested heavily in industrial and technological growth, raising the value of the yuan while producing goods cheaply. As a result, the country is attracting suitors trying to benefit from its explosive economy.

Arizona, of course, is among them. The state has exported more than $2 billion in goods to China since 2000.

"China and the United States are going to end up being the two great economic powers," says ASU President Michael Crow. "It is to our advantage in every way to have as many linkages to that economy as we can."

For China, the relationship with ASU opens the door to expanding its scientific research and building partnerships with local businesses.

Intel, a tech company with facilities in Chandler, recently opened up a plant in Chengdu.

Li Zhiyi, a leader of the Chengdu delegation Tuesday, said Chinese officials are particularly interested in building a relationship with U.S. researchers to learn more about designing business centers that can help startup companies move products to market.

So far, ASU’s rapport with China has led to student exchanges and training programs. Seven years ago, it began a special initiative with Motorola to train executives in China.

And in 2003, the W.P. Carey School of Business kicked off its MBA Shanghai program, in which ASU students can obtain a master’s in business administration through Shanghai National Accounting Institute. The program graduated its first class last spring.

Earlier this year, Crow was a co-host for the first China-U.S. forum on university design, where several Chinese university officials - as well as the Chinese minister of education - met and discussed the structure of universities. ASU also sent a group of nearly 20 officials to share some of their Mars research at a science and technology meeting in Beijing.

The ASU exhibit was such a big hit that the Chinese government recently posted information about it on its Web site, she said.

Mariko Silver, ASU's director of strategic projects, said its work with China helps attract more research dollars. "It enhances our recognition," she said.

ASU is likely to see an even bigger payoff soon. Zhiyi said Chengdu officials and scientists are interested in opening an office in the Scottsdale research and retail center.

Online resources

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