In early May, the Fudong Group, founded by well-known Chinese entrepreneur Li Xinyi in the United States, led a delegation composed of business and political figures, including Mrs. Helen Marshall, the Borough President of Queens, New York, and Mr. Richard Dandrea, the Deputy Chief Operating Officer of the WorldWay Center, to Jiangsu Province’s Nanjing City, where they inspected the "Nanjing WorldWay Center" project developed in cooperation with Fudong Group, and facilitated the establishment of a friendly city relationship between Queens, New York and Jianye District, Nanjing City.
With the facilitation of Fudong Group, on May 4, Queens, New York City and Jianye District of Nanjing City signed the "Memorandum of Establishing a Friendly City Relationship," agreeing to strengthen cooperation in trade, culture, education, sports, tourism, and other fields, hold significant exhibitions and business activities, and promote further cooperation between enterprises in finance, biotechnology, electronic information, and commerce.
In addition, Fudong Group has signed a cooperation agreement with Jiangsu Aitao Art Boutique Co., Ltd. for the "Jiangsu Cultural Products American Exhibition and Sales Center Project." This cooperation will enable more Jiangsu cultural products to be showcased and sold in the United States.
It is reported that Fudong Group is the largest Chinese real estate investment and development company in the United States. Its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Li Xinyi, immigrated to the United States in 1983, establishing TDC and Fudong Group (F&T Group) in New York, focusing on commercial real estate with businesses spanning finance, investment, development, planning, and property management. Mr. Li Xinyi was awarded the Minority Business Award by the U.S. Department of Commerce in August 2007, and the Queens Man of the Year Award in 2008. He has visited Nanjing several times since 2007, meeting with city leaders such as Secretary Zhu Shanlu. He also hosted a delegation from Nanjing led by Secretary Zhu Shanlu in New York in December 2008 and assisted Nanjing in holding a modern service industry promotion conference in New York in November 2009.