“This world economy should not be a one way street. It should be a two way street. And I’d like to foster that,” said Stewart Chen, a council candidate who says Alameda should consider talking to foreign investors.

If elected, Chen said he’d be willing to consider potential Point investors from a variety of other countries, though a likely starting point in his and others’ minds is China (Chen said he isn’t at this point talking to any prospective developers or investors about specific Point proposals).

“I welcome anybody who wants to invest in Alameda and to create jobs in Alameda. Right now, the money is in Asia,” Chen said, noting China’s world-leading $1 trillion-plus investment in United States Treasury bills.

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While Chen, Daysog and Russo all said they’d welcome foreign investment at the Point, they offered a major caveat: They’d seek to ensure that any development that’s proposed is done on the city’s terms. Chen, who co-founded Alameda’s Sister City Association, said he’d be willing to travel to China to assess potential investors.

“We will retain control. The city and the citizens will retain control,” said Chen, who said any prospective Point developers would be expected to hire union contractors and pay prevailing wages, and to address things like the traffic impacts new development would impose.