Colliers International, a leading real estate services firm, today announced that its global trade division, Colliers Multimodal Services Group, has entered into a partnership with Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Shanghai, China. The first and largest FTZ in China, Waigaoqiao was established to provide real estate infrastructure to firms utilizing the Port of Shanghai, the world's third busiest seaport and home to over 8,000 companies.

This partnership will act as the cornerstone of the Great West Alliance, which was formed by Colliers Multimodal Services Group in Los Angeles and Beijing. Under Colliers' leadership, the Alliance will serve to align the real estate needs of companies in the Waigaoqiao FTZ with those of strategically located logistics and manufacturing projects in the United States, Mexico and elsewhere in Asia. Under the partnership, Waigaoqiao will encourage its 8,000 plus companies to engage Colliers for their overseas expansion needs, as well as locate their new facilities within to-be-announced Great West Alliance "sister zone" developments.

"Colliers is a truly international company, with overseas roots, so we are thrilled to play such a crucial role in this foreign trade union," remarked Margaret Wiggleworth, Colliers International's president and CEO. "We created the Great West Alliance to ease the transition for Chinese companies seeking to set up facilities here in the U.S., and this is just the first stage of a long-standing and ever expanding relationship."

"We are excited about this historic partnership with Colliers International as well as developing a cooperative network between Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone and our counterpart logistics and manufacturing zones in North America," said Xie Wei Ming, senior official with Waigaoqiao. "We look forward to working together to help further trade and investment between our countries."

The initial formation of the Great West Alliance should be completed by year-end, 2005, with foreign trade zone locations at both the U.S. Pacific and Atlantic coasts joining Waigaoqiao, combined with three to four logistics and manufacturing regions within Mexico. Future U.S. Alliance expansion will include to-be-announced development projects in the Midwest, Gulf region and Northeast. Longer-range plans will join major seaport and logistics regions elsewhere in China, South Korea and greater Asia.