CCCC - News

SANFORD - Connecting communities across the globe, Central Carolina Community College and the Carolina China Council have established a partnership designed to promote business, culture and education.

CCCC President Dr. Bud Marchant and Carolina China Council President Dr. Lian Xie signed an official agreement formalizing the partnership June 6 at a panel luncheon held at the college's Lee County Campus.

Also at the signing were former North Carolina Sen. Harris Blake and his daughter, Joy Donat; Sanford Mayor Cornelia Olive; Bill Horner III, publisher of The Sanford Herald; Dr. Andy Bryan, superintendent-elect of Lee County Schools; Dr. Hong Yang, president of JJY International Information Consulting; Jan Hayes, CCCC trustee and executive director of the United Way of Lee County; and CCCC personnel Dr. Lisa Chapman, executive vice president for instruction; Ling Huang, Confucius Classroom instructor; and Jon Matthews, dean of University Transfer and Health Science.

Blake has been working to promote relations between North Carolina and China for nearly a decade. In 2005, the remains of an unidentified World War II Flying Tiger American fighter pilot buried in Hunan Province were identified as 2nd Lt. Robert Hoyle Upchurch, of Moore County. Blake worked to see that his remains were transported to their final resting place in High Falls.

"I am thankful for CCCC and what it wants to accomplish through this partnership," said Blake, who is the chairman and a founding member of the Carolina China Council. "If we do this right, in the years to come China and the United States will be the leading countries in the world."

The CCCC-CCC partnership was created to foster bilateral communications, build broader networks of connections, moderate language barriers, and increase international traffic into the local area.

"The partnership is a logical extension of the vision of the CCCC Confucius Classroom and will help this area of North Carolina become an international force in culture, education, and business," said Marchant. "As a community college, we are very interested in exploring ways to connect with Chinese businesses, expand cultural outreach, and promote our area in a global market."

Mayor Olive affirmed the city's interest in expanding local industry and job opportunities, and Horner suggested that local companies may find the cultural aspects of an active partnership a benefit for business prospects.

Business prospects between North Carolina and China are growing. North Carolina currently ranks fifth among U.S. states receiving Chinese business investments, with 2013 on track to be the largest year yet for Chinese investment in U.S. firms, according to a recent Thomson Reuters and Rhodium Group study.

"North Carolina is special in the Chinese mind," said Xie, who calls Sanford "a perfect location for Chinese business to come to invest" due to its broad manufacturing base and high-tech industries.

A professor of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at NCSU, Xie says his hobby for the past 21 years has been linking North Carolina to China - a hobby that helped lead to the creation of the Carolina China Council.

Established in 2009, the CCC is a non-profit organization with offices in Chapel Hill and Cary. It is committed to connecting the people in the Carolinas and China. Specifically, the activities of the CCC include summer camps, internships, educational tours, performing art shows, trade shows and investment conferences.

One of the CCC's principal endeavors is building bridges between North Carolina and Chinese communities. The state of North Carolina entered into a Sister State relationship with the Hunan Province in 2011, and the cities of Pinehurst and Durham have established partnerships with the Hunan cities of Zhijiang and Zhouzhou, respectively.

Sister City connections are typically based on proportional population size and on parallels in community industry and civic interests, and the city of Sanford may have an opportunity to be a part of such an arrangement with the Chinese city of Yixing.

Situated on the western shore of China's Lake of Tai, the city of Yixing shares with Sanford not only a similar latitude and climate but also a long tradition of crafting pottery from distinctive red clay.

In the interest of further exploring a sister city connection, delegates from CCCC plan to initiate a request at the upcoming city council meeting for the city of Sanford to pass a formal resolution to open discussions on the matter.

Should Sanford pursue a partnership, the first step in the process would be to form a sister city board comprising citizens of various ages, backgrounds and business sectors. Next, the board would coordinate a leadership visit to the city of Yixing; likewise, a Yixing delegation would visit the city of Sanford. Finally, a letter of intent would be submitted, which would later be followed by an official agreement.

CCCC partners with Carolina China Council

Central Carolina Community College President Dr. T.E. Marchant (right) and Carolina China Council Dr. Lian Xie formalize a partnership between the two institutions. Signed into effect on June 6 at the college's Lee County Campus, the partnership is designed to promote business, culture and education. Event attendees were former North Carolina Sen. Harris Blake and his daughter, Joy Donat; Mayor Cornelia Olive; Bill Horner III, publisher of The Sanford Herald; Dr. Andy Bryan, superintendent-elect of Lee County Schools; Dr. Hong Yang, president of JJY International Information Consulting; CCCC Trustee Jan Hayes, United Way of Lee County executive director; and CCCC personnel Dr. Lisa Chapman, executive vice president for instruction; Ling Huang, Confucius Classroom instructor; and Jon Matthews, dean of University Transfer and Health Science. For more information about the Carolina China Council, visit http://carolina-chinacouncil.org. For more information about Central Carolina Community College's Confucius Classroom, visit www.cccc.edu/confucius.

Central Carolina Community College President Dr. Bud Marchant (right, back) and Carolina China Council President Dr. Lian Xie (center left) signed an official agreement to jointly promote business, culture and educational exchanges between the People's Republic of China and the Lee County area. The signing took place June 6 at the college's Lee County Campus. Present at the signing were (from left) Dr. Hong Yang, president of JJY International Information Consulting; Joy Donat, daughter of former N.C. Sen. Harris Blake and the Council's vice president; Jon Matthews (back), CCCC dean of University Transfer and Health Science; former N.C. Sen. Harris Blake, chair of the Council; Bill Horner III (back), publisher of The Sanford Herald; Dr. Lian Xie; Jan Hayes (back), CCCC trustee and executive director of the United Way of Lee County; Sanford Mayor Cornelia Olive; Ling Huang, CCCC Confucius Classroom instructor; Dr. Andy Bryan, superintendent-elect of Lee County Schools; President Bud Marchant; and Dr. Lisa Chapman, CCCC executive vice president for instruction. For more information about the Carolina China Council, visit http://carolina-chinacouncil.org. For more information about Central Carolina Community College's Confucius Classroom, visit www.cccc.edu/confucius.

College News

CCCC partners with Carolina China Council

06.12.2013 • College & Community, College General, Special Events