Trade from Chinese sister city in China fuels local firms

It's situated around the intersection of two major rivers, and churns out a ton of steel.

Sounds like the Pittsburgh of yore, in the wrong hemisphere. The city is Wuhan, a city of 7.5 million in central China, and Pittsburgh's sister city for 25 years.

The two cities share more than similar industrial pasts; they share a steady flow of trade. In 2002, then-Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy met with his Wuhan counterpart to discuss how to step up business between the two cities.

Area companies are benefiting from the partnership.

One of the first companies to benefit was Cranberry window maker TRACO, which merged with a Chinese curtain maker into Wuhan-TRACO Lingyun Energy Saving Windows and Doors.

After the 2002 trade meeting, Carnegie-based NeuralWare, a software provider, signed a contract to provide consulting services to Wuhan Iron and Steel Group, the third-biggest steel conglomerate in China.

"We're helping them make predictions about the underlying quality of their steel so they can make higher quality steel for the automotive industry," explained CEO Jack Copper. "We've been nurturing the Wuhan steel industry."

His answer alluded to another powerful force in Wuhan, the automotive industry.

Centra International, the building company involved in PNC Park and Heinz Field, has been building a manufacturing campus for Wuhan Citroen-Dongfeng, which produces a tenth of China's cars from that site.

"The opportunities are in China," said Richard Guinn, vice president of business development.