China-Britain Business Council addresses APPG East Asia Business event
Lord Wei, in his capacity as Chair of the APPG for East Asian Business, hosted a reception in Parliament focused on China business opportunities on Deecember 8th.
The reception was addressed by The China Britain Business Council’s CEO, Stephen Phillips. He stressed that China should not be seen as one market. There are growing opportunities at the granular level of individual cities and sectors. There is also a growing sophistication in the Chinese market.
The UK now receives the largest amount of Chinese investment in Europe and the fourth largest in the world. The UK is attractive both as a destination in itself and as a gateway to the European Union.
Six key areas for growing commercial opportunities with China were highlighted:
- Chinese online consumers;
- UK marketing, design and city-management expertise;
- Overseas Chinese students and UK research and development programmes;
- Health-tech, especially in the care of the elderly;
- Cities other than the very large ones;
- The ‘New Silk Road’ rail link that reduces shipping times from 40 to 14 days with attendant implications for capital flows.