China Direct

UK-China trade relations - on track to Yiwu in E China

 

CBI member DP World provided the starting point for an historic return freight train journey to China. 

The first freight train to run from Britain to China was due to depart on Monday, carrying vitamins, baby products and other goods.

The 7,500-mile journey from eastern England to eastern China will take three weeks, around half the time needed for the equivalent journey by boat.

The first freight train from China arrived in Britain in January.  The train will leave a depot at Stanford-Le-Hope in Essex for Barking in east London, before passing through the Channel Tunnel into France and on to Belgium, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Please read more here.

China Drives JLR's solid Feb sales performance

Jaguar Land Rover, the UK's leading manufacturer of premium luxury vehicles today reported its best ever February retail sales of 40,978 vehicles, up 9% on February 2016, thanks to strong sales performances in China and North America.

The company sold 88,671 vehicles in the first two months of 2017, 6% up on the same period in the prior year. Retail sales for the month of February were up year-on-year across many key regions: 40% in China, 16% in North America and 14% in the UK.

Europe and other Overseas markets were down 2% and 7% respectively year-on-year.

Please read more here.

Japanese Investment into the UK - fast facts

 

Dear CBI Member,

More than twenty Japanese corporations are CBI members in the UK and internationally.

The attached infographic highlights the value of Japanese foreign direct investment to the UK. 

Download Japanese Investment in the UK 2017

China Direct

PwC launches China report of 20th Global CEO survey

 

Please refer to CBI member PwC's 20th Global CEO Survey's China Report.

A full summary can be accessed below.

Headlines include:

• Nearly 60% of China’s executives saw investment opportunities emanating from the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative
• 33% of senior business executives from Mainland China and Hong Kong are “very confident” about their company’s prospects for revenue growth over the next 12 months
• Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong are considered most attractive to organisation’s overall growth prospects over the next 12 months
• “Uncertain economic growth” tops the list of threats this year
• Chinese companies are leading the world in the application of various technologies by adopting and prioritising digitisation

 

For a full report :

www.pwccn.com/ceosurvey (Eng)  

www.pwccn.com/ceosurvey/chi. (Ch)

Popular British brands embracing WeChat - China's most popular social media platform

Popular brands, including CBI members Burberry, Mulberry, British Airways and Durex, are among British companies successfully using instant messaging application WeChat in the Chinese market.

Christopher Bailey, Burberry's chief creative officer, said: "WeChat opens up a huge new world of opportunity in the digital space. The exciting thing for us is the deeper and more meaningful way that we are able to tell our stories using this platform."

Burberry lets users view London Fashion Week catwalk shows on the app, listen to translated interviews with executives, and snap up digital vouchers and promotions. British companies know they can reach Chinese consumers through social media."

In 2016, WeChat had 768 million daily logged-in users, and 60 percent of Chinese shoppers searched Weibo, China's equivalent to Twitter, for brand information.

Plesae read more here.

New Director-General for DIT China announced

 

Dear Members and Partners,

Please note that the new Director-General for DIT (Department for International Trade) in China has been announced. 

Kindly refer to the announcement below made by Dame Barbara Woodward DCMG OBE, Her Majesty's Ambassador to China and Dr. Catherine Raines FRSA, Director-General, International Trade and Investment.

Download JOINT MESSAGE FROM BARBARA WOODWARD AND CATHERINE RAINES

 

Date for your diary - 5th CBBC China Business Conference - London - 28 March 2017

 

The 5th CBBC China Business Conference (London)

The UK’s leading China-Britain business conference will open its doors at the end of March. Run by the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC), the 5th CBBC China Business Conference will be held as the country's attention is firmly fixed on international trade as the Brexit trigger date approaches. The event will attract 500 Chinese and British delegates to the QEII Centre in Broad Sanctuary on 28 March 2017 to debate the key business issues affecting UK companies in 2017.

Themes at the full-day event include:

• Entering the China Market: a practical workshop for first time entrants
• Building Britain: prospects for capital flows from China - to what extent can Chinese capital fill the UK’s infrastructure gap?
• Entrepreneurship and Innovation as a driver of the UK-China Partnership
• Healthy China: delivering integrated care following the recent healthcare mission to China in December 2016
• The changing taste of China: digital and innovation as the new drivers for food and drink sales
• British brands: winning China’s curious new consumers as the Chinese economic growth rate exceeds 6%

Find out more at: www.chinabusinessconference.org

#chinabizconf

David Martin

China-Britain Business Council

T +44 (0)20 7802 2015
M +44 (0)7960 125 980

Willis Towers Watson announces new Asia Pacific Director

 

CBI member, Willis Towers Watson, the leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, today announced the appointment of Kevin Angelini as Head of Strategy in its insurance consulting and software business in Asia Pacific.

Kevin’s appointment to this new role forms part of Willis Towers Watson’s strategy to further grow its insurance consulting business from a traditional focus on risk consulting and M&A due diligence support, to offering wider strategy consulting services. These services will include opportunity assessment, competitive landscape and benchmarking, new geography and product line strategy, as well as M&A target screening, selection and execution.

A seasoned insurance executive, Kevin joins with 14 years of experience in strategy, M&A and new market entry. His appointment took effect on 16th January 2017.

Based in Hong Kong, he reports to Richard Collis, Managing Director for the insurance consulting and software business in Asia Pacific.

Please read more here.

January 2017 CBI Member Success Summary

 

Dear Members and Partners,

Please find the January 2017 Member Success Summary attached below.

Members mentioned include:

• Airbus
• Atkins
• Blackrock
• Bombardier
• BT
• Clifford Chance
• CMS
• Deloitte’s
• Eversheds
• Fidelity
• Ford Motor Company
• Grant Thornton’s
• Huawei
• IBM
• JLL
• Linklaters
• Queen’s University Belfast
• Siemens
• Thomas Cook
• WPP

  Download CBI China Celebrating CBI member success in China_Jan 2017

UK Trade Secretary looks to 'new golden era of Sino-UK business'

 

Secretary of State for International Trade, The Rt Hon Liam Fox MP, made his remarks at the recent CBI China New Year Dinner held in London on 02 February 2017.

For a summary of his comments please refer to the link below.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2017-02/05/content_28108109.htm