US to set up Wuhan consulate

The US will create a new consulate in Wuhan in 2008, its fifth in China, according to Barry Friedman, minister counselor for commercial affairs at the US embassy in Beijing. Friedman and a 120-member business delegation visited Wuhan for a week to observe the business environment before the announcement was made at a Sino-US business conference in Beijing Tuesday, Economic Observer reported (in Chinese). Wuhan, the capital of China's central Hubei province, has drawn attention since it applied to Beijing to set up rural-urban "two-style society" experimental reform zone. The US also has consulates in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu and Shenyang.