Beijing (Getty Images)

Mayor Muriel Bowser is heading to Beijing and Shanghai on a mission next week to increase investment and create new deals across the city

The trip is scheduled for November 7-14. Her entourage will include government officials such as Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans and Brian Kenner, deputy mayor for planning and economic development, plus representatives from Georgetown University, Children’s Medical Center, Federal City Council, DC Chamber of Commerce, Greater Washington Board of Trade, Destination DC, and nearly three dozen others from the private and non-profit sector.

The delegation represents “the best of the nation’s capital,” Bowser said in a release.

During the mission, the team will meet with Chinese businesses and government officials to discuss economic development, trade, innovation, education and tourism. Mayor Bowser will also meet with U.S. Ambassador Max Baucus about U.S. diplomacy in China and opportunities for D.C.-based companies to do business in Asia.

District real estate development firms and small businesses will also get a chance to pitch their projects to Chinese investors, while Chinese startups will pitch solutions to education, energy, sustainability, health, and transportation challenges during 1776’s Challenge Cup.

In August 2014, Mayor Vincent Gray took his second trip to China where he attended a ribbon cutting for a DC China Center in Beijing, signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Beijing Government and the DC Arts and Humanities Commission, announced a partnership between Howard University and the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, and more.