Chinese shipping company expanding to US

Over recent years America has seen growing investment from Chinese companies interested in making their mark in the US. One such company is COSCO, the largest shipping group in China. For more than 30 years the firm has been operating in America. CCTV's Nick Harper went to see them at work at the New York-New Jersey port.

China's position in the United States is on the rise. With a growing number of companies seeking out opportunities in America, Chinese investment is moving ever upwards. The Chinese shipping company COSCO has already firmly anchored itself in the U-S, first arriving on America's shores in 1979.

Since then it's grown and expanded, creating a regular weekly service out of New York-New Jersey port that transports goods along the East Coast. It also operates 19 cargo lines that serve other U-S ports...including the West Coast.

COSCO is undoubtedly a success story for Chinese business internationally. But its investment here in America has helped U-S-China ties to grow and prosper even further.

"COSCO can really be an example for other Chinese companies of how Chinese companies can profit and become part of the American landscape." Howard Finkel, vice president of COSCO Americas, said.

Howard Finkel has worked at COSCO for 18 years. He expects the company's current U-S investment of 300 (m)million dollars to rise in the coming years.

"We're always looking to expand the COSCO-America business. So one of my jobs is looking at the new mergers and acquisitions and it's a very exciting time for us. We want to continue to grow in the United States - this is probably our most aggressive area in the company." Finkel said.

Economics Professor Joseph Foudy says it's part of a growing trend of China-U-S investment.

"Once you see China transition to an innovation economy, this rebalancing that the Chinese government has talked about for the last year or two, you're going to see real large increases in Chinese investment in the US and Europe. Going forward it's going to be about building brands, building factories, linking up with US firms and getting technology, that's going to transform China and lead to much more investment." Joseph Foudy, economics professor from NYU Stern, said.

Indeed Chinese government figures show that in 2013, Chinese investment in the U-S surged by 125 percent to more than four billion dollars.

With overall investment on the rise, COSCO and many other Chinese firms are setting course for the other side of the Pacific.