Chinese Ambassador Advises Expansion of British Business in China

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Chinese Ambassador Advises Expansion of British Business in China

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Chinese Ambassador Advises Expansion of British Business in China

China's Ambassador to Britain Tuesday advised British businessmen to expand their operations in China in a bid to further strengthen bilateral trade and economic relations and seek more opportunities in the fast developing economy.

British businessmen should make more efforts to occupy a biggershare in the growing Chinese market, Ambassador Zha Peixin told a gathering of about 200 British and Chinese business leaders at an annual conference of China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) in London.

He suggested that British businessmen should first "have a better understanding of the priority and practical needs of China's economic development," as "fully exploiting market potentials depends on the ability to adjust to market demands."

British businessmen also need to have a better knowledge of China's culture and history, further enhance competitiveness, promote trade in technology and embrace new trend of practice, he said.

"To find a good cooperative partner and form a long-term relationship...encourage more cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises" are also very important for them to make quick success in the vast Chinese market, he added.

The Chinese diplomat advised British business to seize opportunities to "get ahead of other competitors by acting decisively."

He also praised Britain for its first initiative among western countries to recognize and carry out trade with China 50 years ago,saying "some British companies went to China in defiance of obstacles on a famous ice-breaking visit for developing bilateral trade and economic cooperation."

Currently, both countries "are facing unprecedented opportunities to promote and expand bilateral economic cooperation," he said.

According to Zha, bilateral trade has more than doubled from 5 billion US dollars in 1997 to 11.4 billion dollars in 2002 and British paid-in investment in China also doubled from 5.3 billion dollars to 10.7 billion dollars during the same period.

The potentials for bilateral cooperation are still far from being fully tapped, he said.

In an opening address at the conference, CBBC President Lord Powell of Bayswater KCMG also encouraged more business cooperationbetween the two countries.

He said a new center would be set up in Beijing in the next couple of months to join representatives from CBBC, the British Chamber of Commerce and the commercial section of the British embassy in Beijing, in a bid to provide information to the businessmen both from China and Britain more conveniently and raise service efficiency.

At the conference, Zha also delivered a written address by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi, who called on the British entrepreneurs to seize opportunities and take part in the competition for the Chinese market "as China is working to obtain the strategic objective of building a well-off society in an all-round manner and further pressing ahead with reform and opening up."

British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was present at the annual event and expressed his goodwill wishes for a brighter future for bilateral relations.

He said that "the UK wishes to work with China to ensure that its economic growth is sustainable" and as the EU's largest investor in China, Britain "needs to broaden this cooperation, particularly with China's non-state sector."

He also expressed the hope that China can gain "closer integration into the international system, including economic, financial and trade structures."

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