Michael Snow

On behalf of the American Hardwood Export Council, it is with great pleasure that I welcome all of you to the 22nd AHEC Greater China and Southeast Asia Convention. The picturesque city of Qingdao—one of China’s fastest growing wood processing centers — will serve as our host as we convene once again under the theme Designed in Asia and Made in Asia with American Hardwoods.

The twelve months that have passed since our last Convention in Chongqing, has seen a strengthening of ties between US hardwood exporters and the Chinese wood processing industries. Indeed, 2016 was the highest year on record with US hardwood lumber exports alone topping $1.2 billion, further solidifying China’s position as the single largest market for our products. This Convention is designed to help further strengthen these bonds, as our aim is not only to introduce US exporters to Asian importers, but to also help foster the relationships between Asian end users and specifiers and the local wood processing industry and distributors of American hardwoods.

It is no simple matter to put the day-to-day running of a business on hold to attend an event such as this, and we have worked hard to bring together an array of top-flight speakers and experts from around the world. I sincerely hope that you find this Convention to be both timely and useful, and look forward to working with all of you toward creating an even closer bond between the US hardwood industry and Asia’s architectural, design and manufacturing industries.