China looks to Alaska for natural resources: a growing trade bond exists between the Great Land and Asia's big dragon.

• Author: Wolf, Greg

It's difficult to read a newspaper, magazine or watch the television these days without coming across an item having to do with China and its rapidly rising status as an economic powerhouse. Likewise, one can scarcely have a business discussion without the subject of China coming into the mix, whether as a competitor to be feared or as an enormous market with more than a billion consumers to be courted.

China's economic and political ascent, a process that commenced in the late 1970s when the liberalization of its economic system was launched, is having a profound impact not only on its neighbors in Asia but, indeed, on the rest of the world. The country's economic expansion is unprecedented. From 1980 through 9003, China's annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has averaged more than 8 percent.

DEMAND HIGH

Its demand for natural resources, everything from minerals to metals to oil and other commodities, has led to tightening global supplies and higher prices. While some analysts predict a slowdown in the near future, the long-term trend is clear: China will continue to need vast amounts of natural resources to support the ongoing industrialization and modernization of its economy as well as foodstuffs to feed its growing population.

Alaska is well positioned to benefit from the rise of Asia's big dragon. China is already the state's fourth-largest export market and business is growing rapidly. In 2004, exports from Alaska to China totaled $240 million, an increase of 57 percent over the previous year. Looking back several years, since 2001, shipments from Alaska to China have increased by more than 100 percent and the trend continued through 2005. So far this year, based on statistics comparing the first six months of 2005 versus the same period in 2004, exports have experienced a 20 percent surge. For the full year 2005, it is quite likely that China will move up to rank as the state's third-largest trading partner, trailing only Japan and Korea.

SEAFOOD, SEAFOOD

Seafood is the primary export commodity form Alaska to China, accounting for 83 percent of the state's total exports to the country. The second-largest export is seafood for non-human consumption, such as fishmeal. The two other significant export categories are fertilizers and forest products. During the first six months of 2005, seafood exports rose more than 42 percent while forest products, starting from a lower base, grew more than 80 percent. At present, forest product...