Does China Mean Business?

Some snippets of the latest business news from the Far East

  • The Chinese economy will grow by 8.3% this year, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who say that a decline in exports will be made up by domestic consumption and investments.
  • Wuhan is serious about becoming a leader of creative design in China - says Xie Gongzhuo, Director of Reform and Development of the cultural sector in this central China metropolis. Wuhan is looking to attract companies from UK and Europe to set up there. “Training is urgently needed in many specialist areas of design, including architecture, electronics, luxury consumer goods and digital entertainment”, he said.
  • The January 2008 UK-China summit set a target of increasing bilateral trade by 50% in 2 years to $60 billion. At this years’ summit, Gordon Brown added he wished to double the export of goods and services to China to £10 billion and see 100 new Chinese companies investing in the UK by 2010.
  • ARM Consulting were awarded the ‘UK Outward Investor of the Year’, now with offices in Shanghai and Beijing.
  • Chinese company Mindray were awarded the ‘Chinese Inward Investor of the Year’. The company now employ 33 people in the UK at their West London offices.
  • Wuxi is devoting much attention to developing the creative industries, such as animation, online games and industrial design. International consultant, John Howkins, Chairman of BOP Consulting, with offices in London and Beijing, has been taken on to advise the Wuxi government.
  • March 2009 was a record month for car sales in China. VW has reported that it sold 9% more cars in mainland China and Hong Kong in March 2009, setting an all time record for monthly sales - 112,000 vehicles.
  • David Reid, Chairman of Tesco, was recently presented with a 48 Group Club’s ‘Fellowship’ Award at the ‘Icebreakers’ Annual London Chinese New Year Dinner. Reid was awarded for his ‘commitment to China-UK relations’.
  • Madeleine Sturrock, MD of PanCathay, has been appointed business consultant to the Tianjin Trade and Investment Centre.

Money matters - Exchange rates as of 2nd June were;

    £1.00 = ¥ 11.1625

    US$1 = ¥ 6.82931

Find out the latest exchange rate here.