A group of Missouri and St. Louis-area leaders are wrapping up a trade mission to China this week designed to revive the so-called China Hub project.
Delegation members have signed a new agreement in Shanghai to pursue making Lambert Airport in St. Louis a major hub for Chinese imports to the U.S.
Tim Nowak heads the St. Louis World Trade Center.
“These kind of relationships cannot just be built over the phone or by Internet. You really do have to take time, and I think arguably our state has done as good a job or better than any others,” says Nowak.
Nowak says Missouri will have exported over one billion dollars in products to China by year’s end, but suggests that figure could be doubled or tripled if Lambert Airport is established as a major cargo air hub.
State lawmakers last year failed to pass a package of tax breaks, and shortly afterwards China Cargo Airlines started cancelling flights to Lambert.