Langley City played host to a 25 visitors from central China last month, giving the group a bit of insight into what makes the city of four square miles tick, and what it has to offer po tential investors.
The contingent from Chongqing are touring municipalities of various sizes in Western Canada to get a sense of the type of business opportunities that are available here, explained Langley City mayor Peter Fassbender, who addressed the visitors, through an interpreter, at City Hall during an afternoon session.
“Their purpose in coming is to learn how government operates here.”
That information will be shared with people in their region who are interested in investing, he added.
Having spoken at a tourism conference in Nanjing, China in 2006, Fassbender told the group he was “excited when I saw the relationship that can be built between Canada, China and Langley.”
Representing a range of government departments, as well as a university, the Red Cross and state-run media, the assembly gathered in the council chambers at City Hall to listen to presentations from various department heads.
Director of Corporate Services, Darrin Leite explained how the City’s finances are managed, while Director of Development Services and Economic Development, Gerald Minchuk, took the visitors through the City’s official community plan and gave them a glimpse at its vision for the future, laid out in the downtown master plan.
In fact, it was this blueprint that initially drew the contingent to the City.
“They heard about our downtown master plan. How, I’ll never know,” laughed Fassbender.
“They asked about a month ago if they could hear a presentation from our staff.”
The group was also expected to take a tour of the City, Fassbender said.
“It’s really exciting for us to be able to share what we do and how we do it.”