Tuesday, September 18, 2007

ACA President, Allan Collautt, and Chief Representative for Asia Pacific Affairs, Lily Li, recently traveled to China with the primary objective of establishing business contacts and relationships with government authorities. While there, Allan and Lily spent several weeks meeting with officials from the cities of: Jilin, PanShi, BaiShan, and SongYuan, as well the county of YongJi in the province of Jilin. During these meetings, Dr. Collautt and Ms. Li shared with the officials ACA's vision for community integration and discussed how ACA and China could partner to achieve reforms within China's public welfare systems.

As a result of this trip, Dr. Collautt and Ms. Li will be returning to China in the near future to continue meeting with the officials contacted during the initial trip, as well as to extend the dialog between ACA and China to new locations. This upcoming trip, tentatively scheduled for Fall, 2007, will provide additional opportunities for ACA and China to move toward developing a mutually beneficial working relationship.

The above photo was taken during a meeting with ACA staff and officials from the County of YongJi. Shown from left to right are: Mr. Liu, Executive of Civil Affairs Bureau, Mrs. Xu Li. Vice-County Party Secretary, Dr. Allan Collautt of ACA, Mrs. Lily Li of ACA, and Mr. Wang, Director of Civil Affairs Bureau. ACA will be meeting with representatives from the County of YongJi during their return visit in the Fall.