Yorkshire is open for business to Chinese investors – Gateley
|
Nicholas Emmerson
Corporate partner
Gateley LLP, Leeds
|
There is one word to describe what is going on in China. Urbanisation. Chinese people are moving from the countryside to the cities in search of jobs and all of the benefits that increased wealth brings. Every developed economy has gone through it. Leeds and its surrounding cities and former mill towns are our industrial revolution inspired urbanisation legacy. It is now China’s turn. What makes China unique is that is happening on a scale and at a speed never seen before and it is happening in our lifetime. Figures help show this. For every five people in the world, one is Chinese. The Leeds City Region covers 1.3 million people. China has 100 cities with more people. Leeds itself has a population of 752,000 and 195 Chinese cities already have a larger population. China is also getting richer. In terms of GDP, China is due to overtake the USA as the world’ s richest country in 2019. It is already second and the UK is eighth. However, the figures also help show that China is still a developing country. Chinese people are still poor with Albania having a higher GDP per capita. Further, whilst 80% of the population in developed countries lives in cities, this compares to only 54% in China and 60% in countries with similar per capita income levels as China. What also makes China unique is its system of government. The most powerful decision making body is the Central Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China and its decisions de facto have the force of law. It is made up of seven people. Seven people who govern a fifth of humanity. As a result, current Chinese government policy provides the key to understanding how China will continue to develop. The government firmly wants urbanisation to continue with a plan to lift the urbanisation rate to 60% by 2020. What does all this mean for business in Yorkshire? The Chinese government has stated that it “welcomes FDI” (Foreign Direct Investment into China) and “encourages ODI” (Overseas Direct Investment from China). The Chinese government is aware that it needs to make China a better place to do business to continue to attract FDI. It declared that “foreign companies are an indispensible part of China’s economy” and doing business in China should get easier as, for example, its legal system continues to develop. China will remain open for business to Yorkshire investors, especially in sectors where we have great local expertise. China is also a huge export market but the UK currently exports more to Ireland than to China, India, Russia and Brazil put together. This will change and UKTI provides an excellent market gateway with experienced people on the ground here in Yorkshire. A recent European Union Chamber of Commerce in China report stated that: “Increasing ODI is a key goal of the Chinese government and is seen as a key tool in advancing its economic development, with Europe becoming a more frequent destination as China moves beyond making investments focussed on securing resources and on to acquiring advanced technologies, expertise and brands.” Yorkshire getting a share of this ODI is crucial and we have the advanced technologies, expertise and brands that the Chinese want to invest in. To compete, we need to pool our resources and expertise and the China Business Club being set up by the Business Confucius Institute at the University of Leeds is a fantastic initiative. Leeds and Partners also recently led a trade delegation to China and hosted a retail delegation from China in Leeds. This all helps put Yorkshire in a great position to compete with other EU regions and benefit from the continued growth of China. Yorkshire is open for business to Chinese investors and we are starting to get that message out.
More articles in
Sectors
CommentsIf you'd like to leave a comment, please register now for free or login
|
