FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                     April 14, 2006

Release M-43-06

MAYOR TRAVELS TO CHINA  

            Mayor Mufi Hannemann will be in China next week to promote economic development and meet with his counterparts, the mayors of Shanghai, Zhongshan and Beijing.

            He leaves tomorrow afternoon (April 15) and returns the morning of April 22. The long-planned trip is being undertaken at the invitation and sponsorship of China’s government and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. Four members of the chamber will accompany him and his wife Gail on the trip.

            Hannemann’s itinerary includes inspection of Shanghai’s new magnetic levitation mass transit system. In Zhongshan he will celebrate the ninth anniversary of Honolulu’s sister-city ties with that city, a relationship he co-authored as a member of the Honolulu City Council. Hannemann will also visit the birthplace of Chinese political pioneer Sun Yat Sen, who was educated in Honolulu as a youth and who will be the subject of a memorial at Chinatown Gateway Park.

            In addition, Hannemann will meet with high-ranking Chinese entrepreneurs and officials to discuss the possibility of developing a world trade center in Honolulu.

            “This is a natural follow-up to the visit last month of Chinese Vice Premier Madame Wu Yi, and the signing of a cooperative agreement between the state and Chinese officials to facilitate travel between Hawaii and China and participation by local companies in China’s tourism industry,” said Hannemann.

            “We appreciate the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii members, who have been planning this trip for me for quite some time,” said Hannemann. “With China clearly emerging as a major economic power and Beijing hosting the Summer Olympics in 2008, it behooves Honolulu to foster closer bonds with the people and government of the world’s most populous nation.”

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Contact:

            Bill Brennan, 527-6928

            Mark Matsunaga, 527-5767