Gary Biehn Signs Memorandum of Understanding with Tianjin, China as Part of Trade Mission

6.28.17

Gary Biehn, Chair of the China Business and International Groups, recently traveled to China on a trade and investment mission. He joined business groups and civic leaders from around Pennsylvania with the goal to build broad relations with Asia-based companies and investors.  

Gary, who is Chairman of the Board at the World Trade Center of Philadelphia, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the World Trade Center of Tianjin, Philadelphia's sister city in China. Over the course of the past year, officials from both World Trade Centers have discussed synergies among membership companies in areas such as healthcare, education, and legal and financial services. Gary explained that this agreement is a culmination of those talks and will help promote Philadelphia as a gateway to the United States as the roughly 2,000 Tianjin World Trade Association member companies look for U.S. business opportunities. Tianjin is China's fourth largest municipality and a hub for international shipping and logistics, manufacturing and research and development.

"This is the third trade mission to China I've been on since 2002," Gary told the Philadelphia Business Journal in their release. "What they do is make it more likely that the Philadelphia region is chosen as a place to do business."

Gary also participated on a panel with other lawyers at the Penn Wharton China Center in Beijing before a group of businesses leaders. They promoted Philadelphia as a place to do business, with a focus on life sciences and technology.

In addition, the trade mission included the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Philadelphia and Zuhai, China and an agreement between the Philadelphia Department of Commerce and a Chinese conglomerate for the company to visit Philadelphia in June. It also laid the foundation for other future ventures by facilitating connections between the foreign officials and business leaders and the local representative who visited.

In 2014, Gary was appointed Chair of the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia. He focuses his legal practice on assisting clients in forming strategic partnerships and pursuing business opportunities in China and Europe, frequently counseling clients on forming domestic and international commercial relationships, including joint ventures, partnerships and strategic alliances.