HOUSTON -?A Texas official expressed his warm welcome to a recent jumbo-sized Chinese project in the state and hailed it as a role model for future "win-win" business cooperation between the United States and China.

The project worth 1 billion US dollars is invested by China's Tianjin Pipe Corp., one of the world's largest producers of seamless steel pipes.

Located on a 101-hectare site outside the city of Gregory, Texas, the facility will produce high-quality seamless steel pipes used for oil and gas wells targeting the markets of the Americas and West Africa.

The facility, the largest new manufacturing investment that a Chinese company has made in the United States, is expected to be operational this year.

The project is "exciting," Danny Nguyen, council member of Missouri city, Texas, told Xinhua.

Since the value of the property will go up after the investment, "so tax and tax revenue will be generated for the local government," he said. "It's good for the local government, good for the city and good for the country," Nguyen added.

Another benefit from the project is that it will create jobs. "This is a great thing," said Nguyen.

Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade also highlighted the positive impact of the project on Texas.

The Texas plant "will bring a wide range of new jobs to the area, including clerical positions, equipment operators, skilled craftsmen and technicians. The project will create at least 300 new jobs in its first year and will add an additional 300 positions by its third year," he said in a statement.

According to a study conducted by Impact Data Source of Austin, The project in its first 10 years of operation will have a direct economic impact of $2.7 billion on the local economy, including an estimated 327 million dollars in direct employee salaries.

Nguyen, an active promoter of trade and business cooperation between the United States and China, believed something should be done from the local and state governments to attract more Chinese companies of this type to the United States, especially to Texas.

He said the Tianjin Pipe Corp. plant can be seen as a model for future win-win business cooperation between the two countries.

Considering factors like the weak dollar and the expansion of the Panama Canal, which will allow more Chinese goods to arrive at Houston directly, it will be more convenient for Chinese companies to set up businesses in the United States, said Nguyen.