Reaching out to Chinese Businesses

7 Nov 2011

China

I visited Shanghai and the surrounding region as a guest of The Shanghai Business Daily and Jade & Fountain PRC lawyers, as part of a tour to promote London as the best big city on earth to do business with, visit as a tourist or to come for educational purposes.

The tour also focused on meeting a host of Chinese businesses to explore the on going opportunities available as part of the 2012 Olympic Games legacy in the capital. I was joined for part of this tour by representatives from London and Partners which is tasked with promoting London to visitors, students and business investors. I am fully committed to strengthening the relationship with China and this tour aimed to forge links with key Chinese investors and commercial partners from the creative, financial, educational and green sectors to secure long term investment into London. I met with representatives from leading Chinese companies such as clothing giants Meters Bonwe and food manufacturers Yurun.

Over the last three years the London and Partners business team have helped over 60 Chinese companies successfully set up or expand businesses in London and this visit aimed to build upon these triumphs. These 60 companies include Alibaba.com, Haier, Bank of China, Crystal CG, China Daily and the Xiking Group. I impressed upon Chinese industry leaders that with the 2012 Olympic Games just around the corner there has never been a better time to invest in the capital.

I spoke at a business summit ‘Invest London – Go London’ aimed at SME’s of which some 300 businessmen from all over China attended. It was the first privately organised business conference in the country and was oversubscribed by some 700 people. This was followed by a series of meetings in and around Shanghai to smaller groups of entrepreneurs.

I also spent time promoting the tour with the Chinese media, met with the British Council and British Chamber of Commerce representatives, visited the Suzhou International Science Park and visited Hangzhou.