Clayton, Mo. ? The state of Missouri will open a marketing office in China by the end of the year in an effort to help the state’s businesses gain a foothold in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, Gov. Bob Holden said Friday.

To help inaugurate the effort, Holden and his wife, Lori Hauser Holden, will visit China Sept. 21 through Oct. 2. That trip will be paid for by the Hawthorn Foundation, a privately funded group aimed at assisting the state in economic development activities.

The marketing office in Shanghai will employ one or two people and cost the state $150,000 annually, Holden said. Missouri also has three marketing offices in Mexico and one each in Seoul, Tokyo, Taiwan and London, though the England office is being shut down.

Recent moves to make China more open to international trade make it imperative for Missouri to develop stronger economic ties there, Holden told reporters in this St. Louis suburb.

“We are competing in a global economy and it is essential that we work together with Missouri companies and organizations to ensure we form partnerships not only in China but all of Asia,” Holden said.

Two candidates seeking to replace Holden, Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican Matt Blunt, said they supported reaching out to China, particularly if it would help Missouri’s farmers and manufacturers. They also were glad Holden wasn’t traveling at the taxpayer’s expense.

McCaskill, however, renewed criticism that donors to the Hawthorn Foundation are not public.

“First of all, I’m glad he’s not traveling on taxpayer money,” McCaskill said. “As I stated in the primary, I think the contributions that are made to the Hawthorn Foundation should be made public, so taxpayers know who is paying for the trip.”

More than 20 states have offices in China, Taiwan or both, the governor’s office said.

Twenty-nine Missouri companies — ranging from brewing giant Anheuser-Busch Cos. to a catfish shop in the Ozarks — already do business in China, and the state is working with others to expand there, Holden said. Already, China is Missouri’s fifth largest trade partner.

Fred Bartelsmeyer, chairman of the World Trade Center office in suburban St. Louis, said Missouri must be aggressive in capturing some of China’s fast-emerging market.

“Free trade is something you have to actively be involved with,” Bartelsmeyer said. “You have to be sophisticated. You have to play the game.”

With more than 1.3 billion residents and an economy growing about 8 percent per year, China figures to be the world’s largest economic market by 2015, Holden said.