Doyle officially opens Wisconsin trade office in China By JENNY PRICE Associated Press Writer MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Gov. Jim Doyle officially opened Wisconsin's trade office in China, in a move he said Friday would raise the state's profile in the world's most populous country. Doyle, speaking to reporters in a conference call from Nanjing, China, also announced two agreements Wisconsin firms have reached with Chinese officials to provide products and services. "We are meeting a lot of people that have connections with the University of Wisconsin and who seem really loyal to Wisconsin and wanting to help us here," Doyle said. Nanjing is a four-hour drive from Shanghai, where Doyle officially opened the trade office Thursday evening as part of his 12-day trade mission. Paul Swenson, a Hudson native, is the office's director. Swenson, who has led Wisconsin's trade efforts in Shanghai since last October, previously worked with the U.S. Commercial Service attached to the U.S. Consulate. Doyle also announced Friday that the Milwaukee nonprofit coalition Center for International Health has signed an agreement with the city of Shanghai to provide training and technical assistance for upgrading its emergency medical response system. The city has 17 million people but only a handful of emergency response vehicles, according to the center. CIH president Mark Anderson said emergency workers from Shanghai would train at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, Marquette University, Medical College of Wisconsin and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Anderson and Doyle both said the arrangement would create more demand for Wisconsin-made medical supplies as the center identifies what equipment the city needs to provide adequate emergency response. Doyle said GE Medical Systems of Waukesha, which leads Wisconsin's medical equipment industry and already has a facility in Beijing, would stand to gain from the situation. Doyle also said CUNA Mutual Group of Madison has signed agreements with credit cooperatives to provide insurance protection to their rapidly developing consumer lending business. The cooperatives have more than 15 million customers in four cities. CUNA Mutual has an office in Guangzhou, a city in southern China. Ralph Swoboda, senior vice president of CUNA Mutual's international division, said China has become a major market in recent years for importing products and services from U.S. companies. "It's a way of turning the trade the other way to benefit people back home," Swoboda said during the conference call with Doyle. The United State had a record $124 billion trade deficit with China last year, the largest imbalance ever recorded with any country. ___ On the Net: Governor's trade mission: http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/journal_media.asp CUNA Mutual Group: http://www.cunamutual.com/cmg/home/ CIH: http://www.c4ih.org