In 1979, President Jimmy Carter told a meeting of the nation's governors to go to Japan and persuade the Japanese "to make in the U.S. what they already sell in the U.S." In other words, "Go ask for the business."

Lamar Alexander, then the newly elected governor of Tennessee, went to Japan, selling the advantages of locating manufacturing facilities in Tennessee. By doing so he followed the example of Georgia Gov. George Busbee, who had helped formed the Japan-Southeast U.S. Association a few years earlier.

Nissan became convinced of those rewards, one of which was to bypass the rising protectionist backlash against Japanese imports. In February 1981, the company broke ground in Tennessee on a $300 million truck plant originally slated to employ 1,300. This plant was just the first trickle in a Japanese investment tidal wave. In Tennessee alone, approximately 160 Japanese-owned facilities now employ roughly 42,000 people, representing an investment of more than $10 billion.

Today's hottest global growth story, of course, is China. Seemingly the only thing growing faster than China's economy is the ambition of its entrepreneurs. I have yet to visit China without encountering multiple entrepreneurs seeking to expand to the United States. Many of these businessmen already understand that becoming a major employer of U.S. workers in U.S.-based facilities is an effective way to crack the world's most important market.

With protectionist sentiment in the United States now focused on China, Chinese entrepreneurs and economic development officials are scouring this country; ambitious and knowledgeable Chinese businessmen are visiting Southeastern states while being courted by officials from those states on their own trips to China.

Our visits with Chinese entrepreneurs indicate that they understand Georgia's advantages. They mention an entrepreneurial milieu that fosters dynamos such as Home Depot. They see Georgia's logistical advantages, including Savannah's port and Atlanta's airport. They value our organizations that can smooth their entry in the United States.

Georgia has all the pieces. It's time to ask for the business -- in Chinese.