New York to Manchester
Manchester firms get serious about China
Leading business figures from Greater Manchester are taking a pro-active approach towards building business and cultural relations with the economic powerhouse of China.
As China and its stellar economic growth continues to offer prospering cities a key market to engage with, Manchester’s leaders have joined forces to strengthen connections with the country.
Activity began this week with a workshop at the House of Lords hosted by Lord Wei, the most senior Chinese origin politician in Europe. Lord Wei is an advisor to the Government on the Big Society, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for East Asian Business, and vice chair of the APPG for China with special responsibility for Hong Kong.
The workshop centred on the Wei Report, which was commissioned by Manchester’s private and public sectors, who wanted bespoke analysis about the geographical areas, activity and investment propositions that can best boost links and profitability between Manchester and China.
The report contains five key policy recommendations:
1. Establish a Manchester-China Forum to provide focus and coordination. 2. Create a unit focused on two-way supply chain analysis and coordination between large and small firms. 3. Establish a unit to identify and engage incoming visitors and students and ensure they have the support and welcome they need, as well as staying in touch with them when they return. 4. Cultivate the development of private sector-led centres to act as digital and physical gateways between Greater Manchester and different parts of China. 5. Work with other UK cities to establish a UK-China City Leaders Forum.
The workshop was attended by a number of Manchester and national stakeholders, including Manchester United, BT, Talk Talk, Holroyd, Deloitte, BDP, Huawei, McKinseys; Sir Howard Bernstein, lead officer of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Mike Emmerich, chief executive of New Economy joined the discussion, as well as several important representatives and intermediaries to the Chinese investor community.
Over the course of the next week, representatives from Manchester will meet with a number of key business representatives in China, to discuss trading and partnership opportunities between Manchester, Beijing and Shanghai.
The Manchester-China trade mission is supported by UKTI (UK Trade & Investment) and VisitBritain. It is specifically targeting travel trade representatives, business sector specialists and Chinese media, amidst two major pre-season football matches staged by Manchester United and Manchester City football club’s. The fixtures are:
• Manchester United vs. Shanghai Shenhua, Shanghai Stadium, Wednesday 25th July • Manchester City vs. Arsenal, Bird’s Nest Stadium, Friday 27th July
Lord Wei, advisor to the UK Government, said:
“It has been a privilege working with Manchester to explore how it can build better trade and other links with cities and regions in China. Now more than ever we need to look outwards to create the jobs and growth this country needs. The work done in this report shows Manchester is serious about harnessing its great brands, strong Chinese community and diaspora links, and partnerships with business, the voluntary sector, and government, to take the measures necessary to grow East.”
Sir Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council, said:
“Going much further much faster on internationalisation is absolutely key to growing Manchester’s economy and bringing more prosperity into our communities. If we’re not selling more to the world, both goods and especially services, we will not be where we need to be.
“Nowhere is this more true than China. As Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs, the head of our economic advisory panel is very fond of telling me every time we meet, China creates an economy the size of Greece every 11 and a half weeks – that’s a game we need to be playing in, and that’s why we’re investing in helping our firms do better out there, and getting under the skin of Chinese investment to bring more of it here.”
Mike Emmerich, chief executive of New Economy, said:
“Every Western city talks the talk about “doing” China, but few have even scratched the surface. We recognise this, and are trying to learn from the best operators out there and use real Chinese connections to build a sophisticated strategy that we are investing in driving forward.
“Lord Wei and his knowledge and connections have been priceless in this work, and we warmly welcome the Wei Report, which is insightful and will help take us to the next stage of not just talking China, but successfully engaging with it.”
To download a copy of the Wei report, ‘A report on Growing East: A strategy for Greater Manchester’s engagement with China’, click here (1235kb)
Updated over 2 years ago.
By: Mark Coleman