China: Vince Cable visits five cities in five days
Published 28 May 2014
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0.1 Detail
As China strives to become a knowledge economy, Dr Cable’s visit will present the UK as its natural partner and make the case for a long-term partnership founded on openness, towards each other and in the global economy.
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable will visit 5 cities in China from 25 to 31 May. Programmes in Shenzhen (26 May) and Guangzhou (27 May) in China’s Pearl River Delta, the coastal city of Qingdao (29 May) and the Western megacity of Chongqing (30-31 May) will book-end a day in Beijing (28 May).
The themes for the visit will showcase what the UK has to offer as Chinese leaders seek to change China’s growth model: pursuing a new style, but still vast scale of urbanisation; developing its capacity for innovation and creativity; and rebalancing the economy towards the service sector. In his meetings, Dr Cable will get a sense the leadership’s determination to pursue ambitious and complex reforms, and look to ensure the UK reaps the maximum benefits, building on China’s recognition of the complementarity of our economies.
The visit will provide a strong boost to British industry. 40 UK companies from the construction, environment, water and technology sectors will accompany Dr Cable to South China. British designers, architects and planners already winning contracts around China. But they have the potential to do much more given Premier Li Keqiang’s ambitious plans to develop an entire generation of smarter, more sustainable and liveable Chinese cities. China has 331 smart cities projects in development. An event at the technology giant Huawei’s Shenzhen headquarters will give UK companies access to Chinese business and government decision makers and showcase our world-class R&D capabilities in the built environment and city systems.
Dr Cable will also meet UK exporters whose success in China is supporting jobs and growth in the UK: Coborn, a small business based in Romford, Essex supplying precision diamond tooling equipment to the Shenzhen factory of the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn and Jaguar Land Rover, the UK’s most important exporter to China. He will meet the President of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and visit Standard Chartered Bank whose finance is supporting UK trade with China, Chinese investment into the UK and cross-border RMB business.
The Guangzhou programme will focus on education, science and skills. Dr Cable will announce new collaborations between UK and Chinese Universities. Dr Cable will also witness a new agreement between the Guangzhou Supercomputer Centre and Hartree Technology Facilities Council that will give UK researchers and businesses access to the world’s most powerful data-processing facilities. Dr Cable’s last call in South China will be with Guangdong Party Secretary Hu Chunhua.
In Beijing, Dr Cable will be the only bilateral VIP to speak alongside Vice Premier Wang Yang at the opening of the China International Fair for Trade in Services. China understands the UK’s strengths in services and is increasingly looking to us as it seeks to develop its own sector, its most important source of new jobs. Dr Cable’s remarks, which will be widely covered in Chinese state media, are a chance to encourage Chinese companies to access UK services as they globalise while making the case for greater access to the China market for UK firms. Joey the Warhorse will make a guest appearance.
At the Joint Economic and Trade and Commission, Dr Cable will discuss plans for an ambitious business programme. He should also be in a position to announce important new statements of support for deeper collaboration on IP enforcement, standards, the development of China’s new Free Trade Zones, infrastructure projects in third markets, especially Africa, and te global trading system. These are all key enablers that could unlock significant business opportunities for the long term.
In Qingdao, Dr Cable will join between 50 and 70 UK creative industries companies headed by Business Ambassador Lord Marland at the Technology Innovators Forum (TIF-IN). TIF-IN will officially launch the Global Digital Media and Entertainment Alliance established at the December 2013 Summit. This created a Government-supported framework for digital media, entertainment and communications businesses to work together on high value trade and investment opportunities. The UK’s vibrant creative sector is starting to make real inroads in China. TIF-IN will help BBC Worldwide, ITV Studios, Bond producers Eon Productions, Pinewood Studios and others open more doors here.
Dr Cable will end his visit in Chongqing, a municipality of 33 million people in West China whose GDP is growing at over 12% a year. Urbanising rapidly, it is at the forefront of the new frontier of economic growth in China. Dr Cable will meet Party Secretary Sun Zhengcai. Dr Cable will focus on the automotive sector. He will visit the UK engineering firm GKN which supplies drive lines to 90% of Chinese-built cars through a joint venture, and McLaren’s new Chongqing showroom. He will also have the chance to experience Chongqing’s transport infrastructure first hand: he will test drive a new McLaren road car through the city streets.
Over the course of the week there will be a number of major announcements and contract signings in urban planning and design, and new education, skills and science collaborations.
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