The Italian banking group, Intesa Sanpaolo has launched its Greater Bay Innovation Road initiative in partnership with fellow CBI member, Deloitte. The mission aims to partner 14 Italian technology companies that are focussed on promoting internationalisation and innovation with Chinese partners operating within the “Chinese Silicon Valley” in Guangdong province.
The Greater Bay Area Innovation Road initiative (GBA) is the latest in a series of collaborative projects involving China and European partners. On the bilateral level, China is already working with Germany, France and the UK through a series of ‘CEO Councils’ to create new synergies between companies with the potential to deliver domestic infrastructural development through business to business engagement. The CBI serves as the Secretariat of the UK CEO Council, which recently entered its second year.
The Intesa Sanpaolo GBA presents another example that is illustrative of the point that China is taking steps to demonstrate its commitment to engaging with foreign partners to bring about market access reform and opening up. Furthermore, with the Italian Intesa Sanpaolo GBA focussed on connecting companies aiming to develop financial and technological partnerships, the German CEO Council focused on commodities and heavy industry, and the UK’s own CEO Council featuring companies predominantly drawn from the manufacturing and financial services sectors, it is clear to see that China is interested in engaging with Europe across a wide-range of sectors and ambitious regarding the width and breadth of its participation in the European markets.
Moreover, the Intesa Sanpaolo GBA initiative presents a good case example for companies based in the UK and European 3rd markets trying to gauge China’s appetite for collaboration.
The Italian delegation features companies operating in a variety of sectors, including artificial intelligence, bio-technologies and component and semi-conducting manufacturing and assembly. The delegation will meet with 81 top-ranking Chinese companies to participate in talks and receive training on best practise when investing into China and Italy and carrying out research & development. The fact that for every individual Italian member company, China is interested in promoting five demonstrates clearly the appetite in the Mainland to engage with the European business community.
China’s Greater Bay Area has become a hot-spot for European investment in China in recent years, and UK companies are particularly well positioned to benefit. This is because the Bay Area is a start point of the Belt & Road Initiative, with the UK serving as one of the BRI’s end-points.
UK – China success stories are already emerging from the Bay Area. CBI member, Clifford Chance recently reported that it had advised Bank of China on a $1.83 billion bond deal in support of the Greater Bay Area’s infrastructural development. Engineering consultants, Arup are at forefront in providing solutions for infrastructure management, and recently delivered a major overhaul of Hong Kong’s sewage system. Small and medium sized companies are reporting success within the Bay too. Nottingham-based signage manufacturer and CBI member, Pearce Signs opened an office in Hong Kong in the August of 2018 and has successfully added Asia to its portfolio.
What examples such as the Intesa Sanpaolo Greater Bay Area initiative show is that big business to small, Chinese companies are looking to engage with European – and by extension – British businesses. Please find below some helpful links from organisations which work closely with the CBI’s office in Beijing on how UK companies can engage with the Greater Bay Area and the Belt & Road Initiative.
To read more about Intesa Sanpaolo’s Greater Bay Road Initiative, click here.
China – Britain Business Council – Belt & Road Case Studies Report
The EU SME Centre – Belt & Road Opportunities and Challenges
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