I am convinced that U.S.-China relations will be among the most consequential of the 21st century. The future will not be decided in Washington, D.C. and Beijing, but determined in the communities throughout the United States and China. Therefore, we must be participants, not spectators, in forging these critical relationships.
Global competitiveness is no longer a long-range goal to be realized sometime in the future; it is here today. Local economic development is less about haggling over local borders or partisan tangents and more about forging strategic relationships at home and abroad. If Colorado is to move into a position of global significance, we must fashion our economic development policies not to compete with our neighbors, but to engage the world.
To that end, in early April, Chauto Chan, president of both Huaxin Energy and the China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC), accepted my personal invitation for he and his staff to visit Firestone during his upcoming trip to the United States. On April 25, the Firestone Town Board of Trustees, staff, local officials, business leaders and I hosted Chauto and his delegation.
Throughout the course of the evening, Chauto and I discussed opportunities for cooperation, work force development and sustainable growth. I was introduced to leaders of his Shanghai and New York offices, and I introduced Chauto to local leaders before we each delivered brief speeches on our hopes for the future. Over dinner, Chauto and I shared family photos/videos — on our identical iPhones.
The CEFC is an international organization based in China with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and New York. The vision of the CEFC is to engage the global market place to conduct research on energy development, security and sustainability. The CEFC recognizes that China and the United States are in a unique position to address the need for energy development in the safest, cleanest and most efficient ways possible. Strong international cooperation is critical to addressing the world’s energy challenges.
Clearly, Colorado is a player in energy development, but not simply because we are home to vast amounts of natural resources. We also have some of the world’s foremost thinkers on energy development, industry experts who are constantly producing cleaner more efficient extraction technology and a collective will to contribute solutions to the challenges ahead.
The vast majority of progress minded Americans know that, in order to win a more prosperous future, we must leverage our collective strengths through international collaboration. We must continually strive for the best solutions, based on the best research. In my view, the free market of Northern Colorado is the best place for all of these elements to converge.
I am relatively certain that the event in April was the first time our community had officially hosted a foreign delegation with the intent of forging a future for all. Mark my words, it will not be the last.
Chad Auer is mayor of Firestone.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
