Beijing, China (CNN) -- In the midst of tense U.S. Congressional hearings on China's currency last week, four U.S. state governors -- including California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty -- were in China hoping to cement business relations.
More U.S. governors are looking to China for an international solution to local economic problems and unemployment, despite heightened trade and currency tensions between Beijing and Washington.
"[China] represents massive economic opportunity and massive economic benefit...in a way that's going to translate in job growth for our citizens," Minnesota Governor Pawlenty said in Beijing last week. "It is absolutely amplified by the downturn in the recession and this heightened thirst to do anything and everything we can to create jobs".
Even California, considered the 8th largest economy in the world, is looking across the Pacific for a long-term economic boost.
"California jobs, business vitality, and our cultural identity all are deeply tied to the Asia-Pacific region," said Schwarzenegger in a statement during his trip to China last week.
Besides Pawlenty and Schwarzenegger, Governor Chris Gregoire of Washington was in Beijing last week meeting with high-level officials. Governor Sonny Perdue of Georgia was also visiting China, its second-largest trading partner.
The steady stream of U.S. state leaders to China shows that despite tense trade issues on the national level, many governors are bullish on the Middle Kingdom's economic potential, hoping to tap into its massive consumer population.
"People can now see you [can] come to China and still grow your business in America," said Paul Swenson, director of The China Hand Consulting Company, which advises states on trade and investment in China. "They are not mutually exclusive".
CNN
