Pictured above: (l-r) John Saville, Director Asia,
UKTI, John Berkeley, chairman of C Brandauer & Co, His
Excellency Liu Xiaoming, China's Ambassador to Britain, and
Christine Hamilton, UKTI's deputy international trade director for
the West Midlands
Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk will visit China and
Hong Kong this week to strengthen bilateral trade relations and to
see for himself the many opportunities that exist for West Midlands
companies in the world's second largest economy.
The visit, which is being organised by UK Trade & Investment
(UKTI), will demonstrate the Coalition Government's commitment to
engage with overseas business partners.
Whilst in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, Mr Prisk will meet
Government ministers, UK companies that are successfully trading in
China and Hong Kong, and businesses leaders and investors.
Ahead of his visit, Mr Prisk said:
"China and Hong Kong offer countless opportunities for West
Midlands companies of all sizes that want to take that next crucial
step and extend their business overseas. China's economy is growing
rapidly and there has never been a better time to engage with this
market.
"International trade is at the heart of the UK's economy and I
look forward to strengthening our already close business ties with
China."
China provides opportunities for UK firms across a wide range of
sectors including financial services, ICT, creative industries and
advanced engineering.
Whilst in Shanghai, Mr Prisk will attend the opening of an
office of UK SME Sondrel Ltd, a global design services and
consultancy firm for the semiconductor industry, which entered the
mainland Chinese market in early 2009. They initially hired a small
number of engineers in Xi'an in central China to support their
global operations and are now opening a second centre in Shanghai
to provide closer support for their customers and partners.
West Midlands companies that are trading with China include C
Brandauer & Co and Grayson Thermal Systems, both based in
Birmingham.
C Brandauer & Co, of Bridge Street West, Newtown, is a
sixth-generation family business that has been based in Birmingham
since it was established 148 years ago.
The company uses cutting-edge technology to produce many
hundreds of millions of complex precision metal components for a
wide range of industries around the world.
Components made by Brandauer were used for the flagship particle
accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, at Geneva-based world
famous European particle physics laboratory CERN.
Brandauer currently exports about 80 million components a year
to China.
Grayson Thermal Systems, of Wharfdale Road, Tyseley, is a
privately owned family business, founded in 1978, which designs,
manufactures and supplies cooling, heating and air conditioning
products to bus, coach and specialist vehicle industries
worldwide.
The company is exporting across Europe and to the USA and is now
looking to China for future business. It has recently supplied a
prototype cooling module to a Chinese customer and has three
further projects in the pipeline for vehicle manufacturers in
China.
UKTI is currently supporting both companies through the Gateway
to Global Growth programme for more experienced exporters.
UK / China Factfile:
• China is now the world's second largest economy.
• China is the UK's biggest trading partner outside of the
EU and US.
• In 2009, UK exports to China totalled £7.7
billion.
• The UK is one of the top two European markets for Chinese
investment.
• More than 420 Chinese businesses are now based in the
UK.
• Last year, the UK attracted 74 new investment projects
from China which generated nearly 1,600 jobs.
• By 2025, 15 cities in China will have populations
exceeding 25 million.
• Over the next 15 years, China is forecast to build 5
million buildings and 50,000 skyscrapers. It's equivalent to
building two cities the size of Chicago every year.