By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter said today he and an official of China’s Henan Province have signed a letter of intent to establish a “friendly exchange relationship” between Arkansas and Henan.
Halter and Feng Yongchen, director-general of the Henan government’s Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, signed English and Chinese versions of the letter on Friday during a weeklong trade mission to China organized by the National Lieutenant Governor’s Association.
“This letter of intent … provides an indication of a desire on the part of Henan Province and the state of Arkansas to tighten our economic ties, and ultimately, after some negotiations and discussion, we believe this will potentially lead to the establishment of a sister-state relationship between the state of Arkansas and Henan Province,” Halter told reporters at a news conference in his office.
Kansas is currently the only state that has established a sister-state relationship with Henan Province.
China is Arkansas’ third-largest export market, behind Canada and Mexico. Arkansas’ exports to the Communist nation last year totaled $321 million, nearly a 1,000 percent increase from 2000.
Halter said he believes China can become an even larger market for Arkansas products, and he hopes existing bans on imports of Arkansas poultry and U.S. rice will be lifted.
“Arkansas is currently one of only three states in the country where poultry … is banned for sale in China,” Halter said. “This was instituted several years ago in reaction to the avian flu. I have great hopes that that ban will be eliminated in the near term and that Arkansas-produced poultry will have access to that market.”
Springdale-based Tyson Foods currently exports chicken to China, but the chicken is not produced in Arkansas.
China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of rice. Halter said the Chinese government has concerns about allowing U.S. producers to compete with Chinese rice farmers, but market tests have shown that the Chinese consumer would buy long-grain Arkansas rice if given the opportunity.
“We’ll continue to push away at that issue and hope that over time we can open that market,” he said.
In addition to Tyson, Arkansas companies that do business in China include Bentonville-based Wal-Mart and Little Rock-based Acxiom.
Henan is China’s largest province with a population of about 100 million. It has long been a political, cultural and economic hub in the nation of 1.3 billion people, Halter said.
Federal-level Chinese officials were aware of and encouraged the talks with Henan government officials, he said.
Asked if he has any concerns about China taking jobs away from American workers, Halter said, “There are areas where American interests and Chinese interests are not going to be aligned, and I think that we have to be firm and steady negotiators on this point. There are other times, though, when it’s going to be to our great benefit to have access to a larger market.”
Halter traveled to China along with the lieutenant governors of Idaho, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana and North Dakota, and the secretary of state of Puerto Rico. He said he was the only member of the delegation to sign a letter of intent with Chinese officials.
Expenses of the lieutenant governors’ trip to China were paid by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
