China Direct

2012 British Business Awards in China - celebrating the best of British

We are looking for the Best of British, is that you?

The British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai takes great pleasure in announcing the official launch of the British Business Awards 2012 and invites applications.

The British Business Awards are an awards programme organised by the British Chambers of Commerce in China to recognise and promote excellence in innovation enterprise and endeavour, in the British business community in China. Established in 2008, the awards programme is now held every two years.

Through eight categories, the Awards will showcase organisations and individuals who are achieving outstanding results and who demonstrate the highest level of commitment to Sino-British trade and investment relations in a variety of disciplines in China. The Awards will also recognise the excellent accomplishments of Chinese businesses operating in the UK.

The British Business Awards are open to all majority British Owned companies or organisations operating in China*, Chinese* Alumni of a British Higher Education Institution as well as Chinese* companies or organisations with a presence in the UK.

*mainland China/ Chinese nationals only

Applications are now open and the British Business Awards invites all eligible individuals and organisations to enter. Five finalists in each of the eight categories will be chosen by an independent panel of judges and announced at a Finalists Event in late June. The highlight event of the Awards, a Gala Awards Dinner will take place on the 8th November, when the winners will be announced.

Application deadline is 18th May 2012.

For more information: www.britishbusinessawards.cn or contact admin@britishbusinessawards.cn

The British Business Awards 2012 Awards Categories and sponsors:

• Sustainability Award Sponsored by BP
• Chinese UK Alumnus Award Sponsored by the British Council
• Entrepreneur of the Year Award Sponsored by COSTA
• Innovation Award Sponsored by GKN
• Chinese Investor of the Year Award Sponsored by Hogan Lovells
• Creativity Award Sponsored by Jaguar Land Rover
• Financial & Professional Services Award Sponsored by Manchester Business School
• British Company of the Year Award Sponsored by UK Trade and Investment

    Photos of the launch event can be viewed here.

CBI Member Success Stories March 2012

 

[Image courtesy of www.cbi.org.uk]

A number of CBI members were busy raising their profile in China in March, engaging in many exciting activities across a wide range of industries.

Members covered include: 

• 3i
• ABB
• Atkins
• Bentley
• Boeing
• BNY Mellon
• BP
• Burson-Marsteller
• Clifford Chance
• Diageo
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
• Fuji Xerox
• GKN
• HSBC
• INEOS
• InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)
• Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• J.P. Morgan
• Nike
• Pearson
• Penguin
• Pinsent Masons
• Procter & Gamble
• Research in Motion (RIM)
• Shell
• Siemens
• Simmons & Simmons
• Thales
• Unilever
• University of Nottingham
• Willis

Please click here to access our latest briefing, which highlights the recent successes of 32 CBI members.

The briefing can also be accessed below:

Download CBI China, Celebrating CBI member success in China, March 2012

CBI member success stories in China Feb 2012

 

[Image courtesy of www.cbi.org.uk]

February 2012 was a bumper month for CBI members in China with at least 29 (matching the leap day!) confirmed successes that China Direct is aware of.

Member contributions came from:

• ABB
• Accenture
• Alstom
• Arup
• BAA
• BBC
• Benoy
• BMW
• BP
• Burberry
• Clifford Chance
• Devro
• Ernst & Young
• Eversheds
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
• Herbert Smith
• HSBC
• IHG
• INEOS
• J.P. Morgan
• Pfizer
• McKinsey
• Nike
• RBS
• Standard Chartered
• Thales
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Leeds
• WPP

China Direct would like to say a huge thank you to all of our members for their contributions and also to Ben Cooper at the CBI's Beijing office for patiently collating the information.

Please find our Feb 2012 summary below:

Download CBI China, Celebrating member success in China, February 2012

UK Company BP continues to tap into China

 

[Image courtesy of www.bp.com]

CBI member BP recently received approval from China's Ministry of Commerce to explore for natural gas in the South China Sea in what will be the British energy giant's second deepwater project in China. BP now has permission to establish a presence in a gas field known as block 43/11, which is operated by China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

BP will hold a 40% stake in the project during exploration and later receive 20% of any production. BP and CNOOC first signed a cooperation agreement for the project during Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang's visit to London in January.

BP has invested around $5 billion in China since its entry into the country in the late 1970s to the end of 2010.

Please click here and here for further media coverage.

EIU China Property Report - Essential Reading

 

 
[Image courtesy of www.eiu.com]

"In contrast to some conventional thinking the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) does not believe there is a major housing bubble in China, although there could be a short-term mild correction.

A strong underlying demand is growing so quickly that a correction in the next couple of years will be short-lived.

At current rates of construction, China can build a city the size of Rome in only two weeks, and as much housing each year as there is in all of Spain.

Between 2011 and 2020, we expect urban residential floor space per head to increase from 30 sq metres to 41 sq metres.

Chongqing tops up among 287 prefectures we study, and we expect that the net increase in Chongqing's urban residential building stock in the next 10 years will be almost three times of the entire current residential building stock in Sweden now."

Please download the report below:

http://bit.ly/hmucJ9

The CBI has a wide range of member companies active in Chongqing ranging from cement (Lafarge) to Banking (Standard Chartered), Natural Resources (BP) to design (Arup) and property management (JLL) to manufacturing (GKN). 

To learn more about Chongqing please either contact our office directly on 00 86 10 85253100 or visit us at www.cbichina.org.cn.

Finally, China Direct would like to thank CBI member EIU for very kindly providing the foreword above and circulating the link to this report.

2.6 Billion GBP of UK-China business deals announced

 

A total of 2.6 billion GBP worth of business was announced today in London during day 3 of Vice Premier Li Keqiang's visit to the UK.

CBI members involved in just some of these deals included BP, INEOS, Jaguar Land Rover and HSBC.

For more on these deals please read below:

Download UK-CH Business Deals 11.01.11

 

2010 CBI Annual Conference - Richard Lambert's response to PM Speech

 

 
[Image courtesy of www.cbi.org.uk]

China Direct's UK Head Office hosted its Annual Business Conference on Monday 25th October in London.

The Prime Minister David Cameron, Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband and Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, all made keynote speeches.

Bob Dudley, CEO, BP, Bob Diamond, President, Barclays and Jim Ractcliffe, Chairman, INEOS, also made addresses to the business community.

For Richard Lambert's response to the PM's speech and access to original content - including videos - please visit  http://bit.ly/5PnZAA

Kindly note that if accessing video content in China a VPN may be required.