We’ve Arrived in Inner-Mongolia
I have not had a chance to blog since we arrived here. The meetings started almost the moment we landed on Sunday. Soon I will post pictures so everyone can see what it looks like here. It probably looks about how you think. It is an arid area that only receives five to ten inches of rain a year and the climate is similar to North Dakota. The natural resources are what makes this such an interesting place. In the photo which was mocked up before I left, you can see on the left is Inner-Mongolia and on the right is North Dakota. And Inner-Mongolia is one of the wealthiest places in China. More about that later.
Eric Hardmeyer, Carol Dewing and I arrived on Sunday morning about 11:00 a.m. and had our first meeting with eight energy companies at 3:00 that afternoon. After 20+ hours on an airplane and limited sleep, our main goal was to not create any international incidents. Our host, Mr. Wong, who is the economic development director for the Ordos region wanted to make sure we got the most out of our trip. The people here are similar to North Dakotans; They work hard, think about how to make the future better for their kids and are very genuine. I think this is a good match for our community and state.
Our First Meeting
So, as we got off the plane, Mr. Wong mentioned we would have an introductory meeting. Instead of just a few government officials, he invited eight energy companies to join us. Hmmmm. Meetings in China are very formal. The delegations sit at a rectangular table facing each other. The most senior person sits in the middle of the table and then line up by seniority on either side. Formal remarks are expected at the beginning of the meeting from the leaders. Next up are presentations and then question and answer periods. Fortunately, we had put together a short PowerPoint about North Dakota so we were prepared.
What I really enjoyed about meetings with the Chinese people is that they are very direct and get right to it in business meetings. After our formal presentations, the first question from Mr. Wang with the Ordos Company was, “Mr. Hullet, I appreciate your delegation coming all this way. How is it the Ordos Company can help North Dakota? Do your companies want to invest here? Would you like us to invest in North Dakota? How can we work together?” That makes for an easy starting point.
Thinking Big in Ordos!
As I mentioned before, we received a presentation on Ordos in our first meeting. What struck us is how “BIG” the leadership of Ordos is thinking. You can literally feel the momentum in China. Even in this rural region 1,000 miles from Beijing it is palpable. It is not about developing one coal to liquid fuel (CLT) plant or finding one new way to integrate resources. It is about how to do it all. The business and community leaders have made a visionary decision that Ordos will be THE coal chemistry center of the world. And, it is not just talk. They are walking the walk. For instance, the Shenhua companies CTL plant that we visited yesterday is the first of many to be built-in this region. They plan on investing over $12 billion into these types of plants as part of their ”fuel replacement strategy.”
They made a conscious decision to build a new commerce district for Ordos. It’s basically an entire new city for 300,000 people. And, again, it is not just talk. Construction was started in 2006 and is about half completed. As we took the tour of the ”district,” Eric and Carroll commented on how overwhelming it is to comprehend what they are undertaking. The new community includes everything from a business district to houses and apartments and even a new college, which already has 1,000 students enrolled. When asked what would happen if no one choose to move to new Ordos, the answer was that failure was not an option. They expect it to be a fully functioning city within a decade.
This kind of thinking is a bit hard to grasp. However, it is imperative that we take a page from this book and remember how to dream big. I get caught in the same trap. We think about next week, next month or the next election. What strikes me is that if we are going to leave a legacy to our kids and grandkids, we must start thinking about the next 25 to 50 years in a constructive way.
A Visit with Genghis Kahn
As with America, to understand China, you must become familiar with the culture. Mr. Wong carved out two hours yesterday afternoon to visit the Genghis Kahn mausoleum. Genghis Kahn is revered in China because he reunited the country and his ancestors ruled for centuries. What we did not know when we went for this visit was that we have our own history expert in Carroll Dewing. If you don’t know Carroll, he is walking google search engine. And, he has read approximately 17 books on Genghis. You gotta love it when your one of your own is telling the tour guides stuff they didn’t know.
A couple interesting points. First, there are eight tents in the museum. These tents are 783 years old. One tent holds his bow and clothing and another holds the possessions of his wives. Still another has a library of names of the descendents of his family. To this day, a son or grandson from his family guard the mausoleum. (They follow you through…kinda like the secret service.)
These descendents are also responsible for one other thing. A candle was lighted 783 years ago at the death of Genghis Kahn. That flame hasn’t gone out in seven centuries. The United State’s constitution is 234 years old. This flame was lit over 500 years or five centuries before America became the United States. Gives a little perspective to long-term planning.
