Ties That Bind - Bay Area Council Economic Institute

3
Bay Area-China Trade: Behind the Numbers
Statistics alone do not fully convey the scale and vibrancy of the region’s two-way economic connection
with greater China. Trade, new business formation, banking, venture capital and other equity
investment, strategic partnerships and remittances bind us in unexpected and important ways.
I
t is no simple matter to measure the full extent of the Bay Area’s commercial involvement with
greater China. Our overall economic exchange takes many forms:
� Imports and exports of manufactured products and commodities
� Imports and exports of services
� Intra-company sales or transfers of goods, components and materials
� Travel and tourism
� Venture capital and “angel” investment
� Equity investment, mergers and acquisitions
� Residential, commercial and industrial real estate development
� Remittances from the U.S. to family members in China
Trade in manufactured goods is tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau and private data services,
through U.S. Customs & Border Protection documentation—for purposes of this report, U.S.
import and export shipments moving through the San Francisco Bay Area customs district.
Census data collection tracks shipments by commodity description, volume and dollar value. It
does not, however, fully distinguish import shipments to Bay Area buyers versus those moving
through Northern California gateway ports and airports en route to other parts of the U.S.
Nor does it distinguish U.S. exports originating in the Bay Area from those arriving from other
parts of the U.S. by rail, truck or connecting flight for transport onward to China, Taiwan and
Hong Kong.
49