Mayor Daley said February 15 he will open an economic development office in Shanghai to cash in on an expected surge in Chinese investments. The so-called Chicago-China Development Corporation will be headed by career diplomat John Thomson, a veteran of the State Department, U.S. Information Agency and Voice of America who has spent the last four years running a Chinese language training program in Beijing for 13 American universities.
The Chicago office has already leased space in Shanghai's central business district and should be "fully operational" in April
The mayor is also mapping plans for "China Gateway 2009," a business and cultural exposition sandwiched between the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Shanghai's World Expo 2010. (Source: Fran Spielman, Chicago Sun-Times, Feb 15, 2007