Dear CBI members and strategic partners,
China Direct would like to share with you a snapshot of CBI members' successes in China through 2014. We hope that you found our new format easy to use, visual and informative and wish you all every success for the forthcoming year of the sheep.
Please do keep sending us your updates and press releases so that your business can also be highlighted in 2015.
Thank you.
U.K.Trade & Investment (UKTI) recently released its Inward Investment Report 2013/14.
Highlights include:
• During the 2013/14 financial year, the U.K. attracted the most inward investment projects since records began in the 1980s.
• In total, 1,773 investment projects were set up by foreign businesses, up 14% on last year.
• These projects are estimated to bring with them over 111,000 new ans safeguarded jobs.
• The leading industry group for both projects and jobs was advanced manufacturing.
Please click here to access UKTI's full report.
The China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) is inviting members for a group visit to Urumqi in Xinjiang to explore business opportunities in a range of sectors during the Third China-Eurasia Expo.
Participating members will meet government leaders, a range of regional
stakeholders, and potential Chinese partners to learn about opportunities in
this fast growing region as well as attend the numerous forums organised during
the China-Eurasia Expo.
The visit will take place from 02-07 September this year. Companies engaged in
tourism, logistics, new energy, petrochemicals, machinery, and agriculture
should consider joining.
Please click here
to read the full details or contact the CBI's Beijing office for additional information.
CBI member Unilever recently announced that it is sourcing more than a third of its agricultural raw materials sustainably, having made significant progress towards its target of 100% by 2020.
With 36% now sourced sustainably, Unilever has exceeded the interim milestone of 30% it set for itself in 2010 when launching the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. The improvement was made against a backdrop of the company reporting annual sales of €51 billion in 2012.
Taken together, they represent significant milestones on the way to realising Unilever's vision of doubling the size of its business whilst reducing its environmental footprint and improving its positive social impact.
As an example of Unilever's progress in sustainable sourcing, the company is working towards its new commitment to 100% certified sustainable palm oil, which is traceable back to the plantations on which it is grown.
In 2012, Unilever joined key players in industry and government for the China Sustainable Palm Oil Supply Chain Forum for talks on promoting faster uptake in China, the world's second-largest consumer of palm oil.
Marc Engel, Chief Procurement Officer, said, "Climate change, water scarcity, unsustainable farming practices, and rising populations all threaten agricultural supplies and food security. Half of the raw materials Unilever buys are from the farming and forestry industries, so ensuring a secure supply
of these materials is a major business issue. However, sustainable sourcing is not only about managing business risks, it also presents an opportunity for growth, allowing brands to stand out in the marketplace."
Please click here to read the full press release by Unilever.
(CBI Deputy Director-General Neil Bentley and Li Jingyuan, Secretary General of the Secretariat of the China-Eurasia Expo, sign the cooperation agreement at the CBI's headquarters in London)
Last Friday, a delegation from Xinjiang in northwestern China visited the CBI's headquarters in London, and both parties signed the Cooperation Agreement between the CBI and the Secretariat of the China-Eurasia Expo.
The CBI and the Secretariat aim to make positive contributions to strengthening ties between businesses in Xinjiang and Great Britain through public promotion, mutual visits, trade fairs and expositions, business travel, consultancy, etc.
Xinjiang has significant opportunities for British business, particularly in energy, minerals and manufacturing equipment, agricultural products, and pharmaceuticals.
With high levels of growth projected for the region, equipment and advanced technologies will be needed in these fields.
The China-Eurasia Expo aims to promote steady development, multilateral cooperation, and economic stability throughout the Eurasian region, and the third China-Eurasia Expo, running under the theme
of "Mutual trust, mutual benefit" will be held in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, in September 2013.
Highlights on Xinjiang include:
• Accounting for one-sixth of China's land mass, Xinjiang is the westernmost region in the country, occupying a strategic geographic location, which allows it to function as a bridge between Asia and Europe.
• Key sectors in Xinjiang include oil and gas, agriculture, minerals, etc.
• Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Xinjiang reached US$396 million in the first 11 months of 2012,
up 30.8% compared to a year earlier.
• Examples of CBI members active in Xinjiang include:
o In January 2013, CBI member Rolls-Royce announced that it won a US$75 million contract to
supply PetroChina with equipment and related services to power the flow of natural gas through Line
3 of China's West-East Pipeline Project (WEPP), the world's longest pipeline and a key part of China's drive towards cleaner energy consumption.
Please read more here.
o In January 2013, CBI member Atkins was commissioned to design the new Donghu central leisure
area in Karamay. Commissioned by the Karamay Construction Bureau, the project, which evolved from Atkins' masterplan completed last year, will feature landscaped scenic parkland with facilities such as a waterside climbing wall and white water rafting alongside a lake with boating berths and a single span bridge. On completion, the park will be the primary location for leisure in Karamay and cover an area of 3.41 square kilometres.
The project is Atkins' biggest and most complex multidisciplinary project in mainland China to date.
Please read more here.
o CBI member Unilever has worked on promoting sustainable agriculture in Xinjiang, sending scientists
to the region to train farmers in the efficient use of fertilisers, which has helped increase crop output.
o In November 2012, CBI member INEOS announced that INEOS Technologies had licensed its Innovene PP Process for the manufacture of homopolymers, random copolymers, and impact
copolymers to China Shenhua Coal to Chemical Xinjiang Coal Chemical Company for its new project
in Xinjiang.
Please read more here.
[Image courtesy of www.europeanchamber.com.cn]
Late last week The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC) released its European Business in China Position Paper 2012/2013.
The Position Paper intends to provide an overview of the current conditions in various sectors in China as well as detailed and constructive recommendations.
The 13th edition of the Position Paper was prepared through a six-month consultative process with hundreds of companies and includes 41 separate Working Group and Forum papers and eight city-specific papers covering Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Nanjing, Pearl River Delta, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Tianjin).
Sectors covered include:
• Aerospace
• Agriculture, food, and beverages
• Automotive
• Auto components
• Aviation
• Banking and securities
• Carbon market
• Construction
• Consumer finance and non-banking financial institutions
• Cosmetics
• Energy
• Healthcare equipment
• Heating
• Information and communication technology
• Information security industry
• Insurance
• Lighting
• Logistics
• Maritime transport
• Non-ferrous metals
• Petrochemicals, chemicals, and refining
• Pharmaceutical
• Private equity and strategic mergers & acquisitions
• Rail
• Renewable energy
• Smart grid
Please click here to access the Executive Summary of the Position Paper and here for the full publication.
Dear CBI members and subscribers to China Direct,
Kindly find a link to the very latest CBI member successes in China for July 2012 below.
Thank you.
Download CBI China, Celebrating CBI member success in China, July 2012
[Images courtesy of www.cbbc.org and www.britishchamber.cn]
The CBI would like to thank our partners at the CBBC and British Chamber of Commerce in Beijing for sharing the findings of the 2011-12 British Business Climate Survey in China.
The results of the 2012 Business Climate Survey indicate increasing optimism about the outlook for revenue growth in 2012. The survey clearly demonstrates the growing importance of China to many companies as a driver of corporate growth, evidenced by plans to increase investments in China this year.
However, companies continue to acknowledge the complexity of the operating environment, especially in terms of rising labour costs, increasing local competition and the ongoing challenges of IPR & legal enforcement, protectionism and bureaucracy.
Despite this, most UK companies remain confident about the outlook for their business in China.
The key messages that arise from this survey are the following:
To download the full survey please click below:
Download 2012_china_business_climate_survey
[Image courtesy of www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk]
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in Beijing has kindly prepared an overview of the latest UK-China trade and investment statistics.
Highlights include:
UK imports of goods from China (Jan-Aug 2011): £18.6 billion.
UK exports of goods to China: £5.5 billion.
Total trade volume of goods between China and the UK: £24.1 billion.
Total 2010 UK-China trade volume in services: £3.374 billion.
The UK exported £2.131 billion worth of services to China.
China exported £1.243 billion worth of services to the UK.
UK was China's top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) from the EU in 2010.
The UK's FDI into China reached $1.62 billion in 2010, up 10% over the previous year.
The UK was the fourth largest destination for China's direct investment in the EU in 2010.
China's outbound foreign direct investment in the UK reached $330.33 million in 2010.
As of the end of August 2011, there were eight Chinese companies listed on the LSE main market, with a total market value of £15.6 billion.
There were 43 Chinese companies listed on the LSE AIM, with a total market capitalisation of £3.5 billion.
Please click here to read the full overview by UKTI.
U.S. pharmaceutical giant and CBI member Pfizer recently formed a joint venture with Jilin Guoyuan Animal Health Company that will develop, manufacture and sell animal vaccines in China.
The new joint venture, known as Jilin Pfizer Guoyuan Animal Health Company, will initially focus on developing a vaccine to prevent a respiratory illness common in pigs.
The two partners plan on developing other vaccines for pigs, cattle and poultry that will help contribute to a safe and abundant supply of pork, beef and poultry in China. Pfizer and Guoyuan have valued China's animal vaccine market at $800 million per year.
