Helen Deng

A U.S. machining company signed agreements to buy products worth up to US$100 million annually from China while on a visit to Guangdong as part of a recent trade mission organized by the city government of Ontario, California.

Metric Machining, a 33-year-old screw machine manufacturer based in Ontario City, set up an office in Shenzhen on Thursday, said Henry Wang, China representative of Ontario City Government.

“The annual turnover of the office is expected to reach US$100 million,” said Wang. “It (Metric Machining) is planning to expand the Shenzhen office next year, and will move 90 percent of its production to China, leaving only its U.S. factory to fulfill urgent orders and prototype products development,” he said.

Metric Machining signed agreements with three Shenzhen companies and one Dongguan company to buy precision machine parts from them during the Oct. 18-19 trade mission led by Kelly Marks, the city’s economic development manager, according to Wang.

The city of Ontario has been leading the United States in promoting international trade, said Wang. In 2003, the city government organized the first trade mission to China, and in March this year, it opened a China representative office in Shenzhen to help its companies explore trade possibilities in China. The century-old city is the first U.S. city of its size to set up a representative office in China.

The October trade mission was the third of its kind from the city, which has a population of 170,373 and an area of nearly 130 square kilometers, roughly equal to that of Nanshan District.