VZCZCXRO8476
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHGZ #2145 3070835
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030835Z NOV 06
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5325
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DOJ WASH DC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 032145 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN, DAS LEVINE 
STATE FOR EB/TPP MASSINGA, FELSING 
STATE PASS COPYRIGHT FOR TEPP 
STATE PASS USPTO FOR DUDAS, BROWNING, BOLAND, ANTHONY, NESS 
STATE PASS USTR FOR MENDENHALL, MCCOY, ESPINEL, CELICO 
USDOJ FOR SUSSMAN 
DHS/CPP FOR PIZZECK 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ETRD KIPR ECON CH
SUBJECT:  Guangdong Vice Governor Welcomes Further Direct Dialogue 
on Areas of U.S. Interest 
 
(U) This document is sensitive but unclassified.  Please 
protect accordingly. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Guangdong Executive Vice Governor Tang Bing Quan 
welcomed dialogue on bilateral issues ranging from IPR to the 
U.S.-China trade balance in his first meeting with the Consul 
General on October 23.  Tang said that given the high quality of 
Guangdong's infrastructure and hi-tech manufacturing capabilities, 
he was not concerned about losing investment to neighboring 
provinces despite their cheaper labor costs; he also said that the 
province's highest priorities remain in solving energy, environment 
and land use problems.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Tang told the Consul General on October 23 that while he 
had initially worried that the availability of cheaper labor in 
neighboring provinces (such as Guangxi) might hurt Guangdong's 
economic development, he was now confident that "high-level, higher 
value-added" investment would remain in the province.  Tang 
described Shenzhen's booming hi-tech manufacturing sector, the Pearl 
River Delta's improving water, power, and transportation 
infrastructure, and Guangdong's export experience and industrial 
prowess as keys to the province's economic sustainability. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Reiterating his own personal steadfast commitment to 
protecting IPR in Guangdong, Tang described the efforts of the 
Chinese government to deal with IPR violators.  He invited the 
Consul General to contact him with any specific IP concerns, and 
took note of his good relationship with the American Chamber of 
Commerce in South China as evidence of his good will towards U.S. 
interests.  Tang offered a caveat, however, saying that for a 
province of Guangdong's size, IPR protection and the development of 
domestic IP interests would have to be a long-term process:  "A big 
tree will always have rotten leaves." 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Consul General thanked Tang for his support in 
facilitating OBO work on the new Consulate compound, took note of 
the assurances on IPR cooperation and expressed continuing interest 
in engaging on issues of bilateral interest.  He also said that he 
hoped high level U.S. visitors would travel to Guangzhou in the 
coming months and that senior level Guangdong leaders would be 
willing to meet with them. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES:  Tang is a native of Guangdong, having 
risen through the ranks of his local Zhongshan city CPC apparatus 
before becoming Vice Governor of Guangdong in 1996.  As Executive 
Vice Governor, Tang's portfolios include foreign trade, foreign 
affairs, ports of entry and anti-smuggling efforts, tourism, 
overseas Chinese affairs, and Taiwan affairs.  Tang, who speaks 
Mandarin Chinese with a heavy Cantonese accent, is a personable and 
able interlocutor who is prepared to respond directly to questions 
as they are raised rather than engage in lengthy discourse of 
economic minutiae during meetings. 
 
GOLDBERG