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CAST-USA and KIT

Group meeting in Pittsburgh to focus on stronger ties with China

This weekend, technology professionals from across the country will gather near the region's three rivers to discuss a country an ocean away.

The 18th annual conference for the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, to be held at the University of Pittsburgh's David Lawrence Hall Saturday and Sunday, will focus on building trade and contracts between two countries expected to remain the preeminent figures of the 21st-century economy. Trade between the U.S. and China has ballooned from $5 billion in 1980 to $409 billion in 2008, according to the Congressional Research Service, and accounts for about 12 percent of U.S. global trade.

Asked why the national organization chose to come here, Pittsburgh chapter President Frank Li echoed the narrative given in September when the city hosted the G-20 summit: "Pittsburgh has gone through tremendous transformations, especially in life science and biotechnology."

The Chinese Association for Science and Technology has about 400 active members in its Pittsburgh chapter, said Mr. Li, who works as a private wealth manager at Merrill Lynch, Downtown. About 150 people are expected to attend the conference, with about 40 people coming from outside the region.

The conference is open and free to the public, but attendees who aren't in the association should expect to pay for a lunch. For more information, visit http://www.cast-p.org/

Mr. Li said the gradual recovery of the United States economy after a debilitating recession has more companies entertaining the possibility of expansion into China.

But China's Communist government and its restrictions has given many pause. That's why Mr. Li has invited an official from the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., to discuss what regulations or expectations U.S. companies can expect.

"The biggest concern of expanding into China is the know-how," said Mr. Li. "When you deal with the Chinese, there's a culture and language barrier, and it takes longer than anticipated."

The conference sessions also will focus on two of Pittsburgh's strongest tech sectors - life sciences and energy materials - as well as a panel discussion on "How to Break the Bamboo Ceiling in the U.S."

Sitting on that panel will be Xiaoyan Zhang, chief executive and founder of Kit Solutions LLC, a tech firm in McCandless. Kit Solutions produces Web-based applications that collect, process and analyze large amounts of data - picture a souped-up Excel spreadsheet that comes with a brain. The company employs 70 workers and primarily works with state and federal governments.

Mr. Zhang has worked at Kit Solutions for 14 years and said the Chinese-American business community in Pittsburgh has evolved into more high-tech pursuits over the years.

"In the past 14 years, I've seen a lot more Chinese students here," he said. "A number of local entrepreneurs used to just be starting laundry and grocery stores, and now it's more companies like ours."

The Kit Solutions applications are an example of the exploding movement toward cloud computing, which means information is not stored on a server and instead is accessible anywhere with a Web connection. The trend has gained traction in both countries, he said.

Earlier this year, search engine company Google announced it had been the victim of a sophisticated cyber attack that originated in China and breached the e-mail accounts of human rights activists there.

Those kind of incidents don't concern Mr. Zhang, who said government control in China is expected and his company always keeps its client information proprietary anyway.

In general, attitudes toward China-U.S. transactions are positive in the business world despite those in the public who may mistakenly perceive expansion as the outsourcing of American jobs, said Gary Quinlivan, dean of the McKenna School of Business at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. He serves as the college's liaison to China and left for his 24th trip to the country last week.

Transactions between the two countries aren't just the newly built factories that first come to mind. China has long hired American financial firms and accounting services, he said.

"If China's not buying our goods, they're buying our services," he said.

Dr. Quinlivan doesn't think the Google incident will cause other technology firms to curtail expansion in China, but believes they must be cautious of the country's lax intellectual property laws and protection.

To prevent competitors from stealing and replicating technology, American firms often divide the manufacturing process among three or four factories so no one worker knows every step, he said.

Still, a black market thrives on the city streets. "I could go just about anywhere in Beijing and buy the new Microsoft Office for a buck in the marketplace," he said.

It's not a problem unique to China, but a necessary evil of doing business in any developing country, Dr. Quinlivan said.

And it is one that will start to affect more people, said Mr. Li.

"Many years ago, Pittsburgh was not on the radar screen in China," he said. "That not the case now."

Certainly not in the Sichuan Province of China. There, a school sponsored by the Chinese Association for Science and Technology as well as other U.S. donors was built in 2008.

Erich Schwartzel: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 412-263-1455.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10146/1060693-28.stm#ixzz0p31JAjDe