A suburban Seattle printing-press signed an $11 million deal with China’s Communist Party organ, the People’s Daily newspaper.
The agreement was touted by Washington governor Gary Locke, who spoke to reporters via teleconference from Beijing Monday where he was concluding his third trade trip to China since 1997, reported the Olympian newspaper in the state’s capital.
 Banner from China’s People’s Daily newspaper online, English edition |
The trip yielded potential deals for more export of Washington potatoes and Boeing airplanes, but the biggest catch was WebPress Corp.’s agreement with China’s most-read newspaper to sell printing materials.
Greg Palmer, president of the Kent, Wash.-based company, said the contract was the culmination of a year’s worth of talks.
Locke said the agreement’s value is conservatively $11 million per year. The governor also announced the opening of a new Starbucks store in Beijing. He said other deals are in the works to sell construction-related services to China for its hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
An editorial published by the People’s Daily yesterday said the leadership of China’s Communist Party, or CPC, is “deeply supported and trusted by the whole party and people.”
The paper said the new party leadership “adheres to the political lines and policies of the CPC … and constantly upholds Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory.”
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