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Washington Governor Chris Gregoire and a delegation of leaders from various industries recently arrived in China on a trade mission, reports TheGovMonitor.com.

Gregoire is being accompanied by representatives from business, agricultural, energy and education industries on his trip.

"It was a long flight to Beijing, but I'm happy to be back in China," Gregoire told the news source. "I have a great group of representatives here with me who are as anxious as I am to seek new opportunities for our businesses, our growers and our educational institutions. They know, like I do, how important this trip is to Washington state and its economic recovery. With one in three Washington jobs tied to trade, the benefits of this trip are clear."

In addition, Terry Brewer, executive director of the Grant County Economic Development Council, made the journey and heard many people express interest in the EB-5 visa program, reports the Columbia Basin Herald.

The EB-5 visa program was created in 1990 to help American businesses attract foreign investment. If foreign nationals invest $1 million (or in some specially designated areas, $500,000) in a U.S. business and that investment leads to the creation or preservation of 10 jobs, the investor becomes eligible for a U.S. green card.

Most EB-5 investments are handled through EB-5 regional centers, which help direct and manage the foreign capital. These centers can be "any economic unit, public or private, which is involved with the promotion of economic growth, improved regional productivity, job creation, and increased domestic capital investment," according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).

There are currently seven EB-5 regional centers in Washington state, according to the USCIS's website.

The purpose of the trade mission is to look for new export opportunities, attract foreign investment in Washington and strengthen the partnership between higher education institutions in China and Washington, according to TheGovMonitor.com.

"By providing our students here at home with access to the world's best instructors and programs, we ensure we have the highly trained workforce our state needs to be competitive in the 21st century economy. We also provide our students with more opportunities to learn about cultures and languages that give our state a greater understanding of the world that will serve us in the future," Gregoire said.