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China: A nation ready to reconnect and ready to do business

A forum of business and local authority leaders has taken the first steps to strengthen trade links between the Silverstone region and the booming Chinese economy. Andrew Gibbs reports.

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INITIAL steps are being taken to forge a new commercial relationship with China that could bring a multi-million-pound boost to the South Midlands economy.

The “Crown Jewel” of Silverstone will be the epicentre of a movement to develop strong collaborative links with Chinese cities and provinces mirroring the Silverstone region across Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire with its specialisms in advanced manufacturing, engineering, and motorsport.

Senior Chinese representatives have indicated that their homeland is ready to welcome businesses in Milton Keynes and the wider region with a view to nurturing those relationships. Speaking at a forum at Silverstone Park, Madam Bao, Minister for Economic & Commercial Affairs at the Chinese Embassy in London, said China was preparing to remove market access restrictions in manufacturing, to increase the number of nations it would consider for investment, and to open its telecoms, internet education, culture, and medical sectors more to the rest of the world.

China’s trade figures overseas have grown in more than 160 countries and regions around the world this year, she added. Imports and exports are at a record high, and the Chinese government is implementing a five-pronged plan to stimulate economic growth.

Northamptonshire already has established links with China since 2018, when the University of Northampton helped to facilitate the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the then-Northampton Borough Council and the city of Dalian in north-east China.

“We have over the years developed some significant relationships between the Northamptonshire region and China, with Silverstone at its heart, given its insights and experience in generating an industrial cluster with a supporting ecosystem based around a racetrack,” said Associate Professor Adrian Pryce DL of the University of Northampton, one of the forum organisers.

Adrian Pryce DL.

The region is looking to work with both the UK and Chinese governments. Following Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s visit in October, China has agreed to restore full dialogue and cooperation with the UK, marking progress in a previously frosty relationship between the two nations. Its government is also ready for “mutually beneficial cooperation” in trade, finance, green development, science and technology, health, education, and culture, Madam Bao said in her presentation to the forum.

China wants business communities on both sides to seize the opportunities, she added. She encouraged regional businesses to explore the Chinese market and foster “fruitful exchanges.”

Adrian said: “We have to change the narrative about China from a negative one to a more balanced perspective, based on a reconnection in which the UK challenges, competes and collaborates with China as appropriate.

“In terms of trade, investment and non-sensitive R&D, the focus should be on collaboration. There is strength in working together. You cannot enter and win in the Chinese market on your own; it has to be done in stages, city by city. Regional civic-business alliances working with the British and Chinese governments are key to exploiting the opportunities and managing risk.”

Chinese technology has moved forward apace, to the point where the worry among Western corporates that China would simply welcome their products only to copy and produce them at a far cheaper price is now a concern within its own economy.

“The level of engineering now is so advanced that they are worried about their own IP and R&D,” said Adrian. “We should be trying to secure fresh investment through R&D partnerships.”

The Silverstone UK-China Business Forum was chaired by John McLean, who chairs the China UK Business Development Centre, the London branch of the Institute of Directors and is a senior adviser to the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK. He holds an OBE for his work in China over 25 years.

“The aim is to take a proactive position on Anglo-Chinese relations,” said John. “If China is opening up then we must be proactive in embracing that opportunity.”

The UK already receives requests to visit from between 40 and 50 Chinese delegations a year. “Many are attracted by the Silverstone Technology Cluster and there is an appetite to do business,” said John.

Speaking at the forum was Steve Lynch, former managing director of the British Chamber of Commerce in China and now executive director at the Eastern Powerhouse and director at Beijing to Britain, and Professor Shaowei He, of the University of Northampton.

They were joined by Jeff Astle, managing director at global public affairs and strategic communications consultancy APCO Worldwide and China Group Ambassador at the IoD, as well as senior representatives of West and North Northamptonshire Councils and Buckinghamshire Council. Also round the table were representatives of the Federation of Small Businesses as well as other trade and professional bodies.

The forum aims to follow the successful path of Liverpool China Partnership, an award-winning organisation set up in 2015 to expand Liverpool and the city region’s business, academic and civic partnerships with China.

Shaowei said: “There is a recognition of a need for a strong regional platform as an umbrella for this collaborative relationship and to follow the Liverpool-China relationship. We want to build the Silverstone UK China partnership for Northamptonshire and align it with the emerging Silverstone ecosystem strategic vision that the university is working on with Buckinghamshire and West Northamptonshire Councils, Silverstone Park, and Silverstone Circuits.”

Liverpool China Partnership president Gary Millar has led many delegations to China and hosted more than 200 visits to Merseyside. “My own experience highlights just how effective and pioneering our teamwork has been,” he said. “It has been recognised that we have helped create strong friendships and outstanding mutual cooperation between our two great countries.

“Our networks are extensive, and our connections the envy of other global cities.”

Now the call has gone out to businesses across the Northamptonshire-Buckinghamshire region either looking for new import/export markets or to forge close collaborative links with China to join the forum.

“In two years’ time I would like to see a thriving relationship with at least one major Chinese city and/or province where we have created a bridge for Northamptonshire businesses to collaborate successfully with Chinese businesses in terms of trade, innovation, and investment flows,” said Adrian. “We want to persuade people to take notice. China is ahead of us in so many ways. It is a massive market, a great influence on the world economy and we would be fools to ignore it. If we engage, we can profit from it.”

Today’s China is changing fast, with Western influences combining with the country’s traditional way of life.

“The emerging middle class represents untapped demand, and they have a strong interest in premium as well as up-and-coming artisan brands,” said Adrian. “If yours is a business that has the potential to grow, the Chinese market is enormous.

“With the university’s many existing links in China and John McLean’s China UK Business Development Centre working together with local authorities, we can create a solid platform for inward investment and R&D to drive growth and productivity as well as opening up significant new markets.”

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