Wells Fargo exec takes helm at state’s China office

“The hiring of Ken Petrilla, one of the most experienced international banking executives in California, shows how serious California is about its trade relationship with China,” said Mike Rossi, Brown’s senior jobs adviser, in a statement.

Funded privately and with federal matching grants, its purpose is to bring Chinese companies to California, encourage those already here to expand, and to attract Chinese foreign investment — of which much is floating around these days.

According to a Deloitte report, of the $6 billion China invested in the United States between January 2013 and March 2014, $1 billion has come to California.

In particular, I want to collaborate with other organizations in the state that are already working to attract Chinese investments and helping local companies doing business there, said Petrilla.

High-tech, biotech, agriculture, manufacturing and real estate will be front and center, but at the top of the list is clean tech.

The challenge is sorting through the wide variety of opportunities and filtering out the transactions that are not viable so that we, as well as our business partners, do not waste time and energy — understanding what is doable and what is not.