Since the opening of our Beijing office in 2006, we have been actively representing and networking on behalf of and providing intelligence to our members with a presence or interest in China.
We hope you find the following pages useful and please do not hesitate to contact us.
>>China Direct
Latest news
UK Pavilion at Shanghai EXPO 2010 - A Guide
A Guide to the UK Pavilion has now been produced and the CBI is delighted to share this with you.
UK Pavilion and Shanghai Nanpu Bridge (photo source: Press & Public Affairs Office, British Embassy)
There are just 52 days to go until the grand opening of the World EXPO however there is still time for UK businesses to get involved. Just contact Rebecca Hickman via rebecca@ukshanghaiexpo.com directly or visit the News and Events section of the comprehensive bilingual Pavilion website.
Please click here to read read the UK Pavilion story (PDF 1.41MB).
Updated 10 March 2010
Indigenous Innovation Product Accreditation - a briefing note for companies
Senior representatives from the EU & US business and diplomatic communities will meet tomorrow in Beijing to discuss the current business environment for foreign investors and devise common strategies to combat perceived protectionism.
CBI China office will update you with developments and is also delighted to share with its members a comprehensive Brief of Indigenous Innovation Product Accreditation.
Of particular interest to members will be page 5, which outlines potential problems and concerns to foreign companies and the three appendices that highlight the policy framework, product catalogues and technological products eligible for inclusion in the new indigenous innovation catalogue.
Our grateful thanks to the US China Business Council for kindly sharing this briefing note with the CBI. Please click here to download US-China Business Council - Indigenous Innovation Policy Brief (PDF 112kb).
Updated 5 March, 2010
Business Security Matters - Operational Tips and Solutions
CBI China office has linked up with its member Control Risks to share some practical security risks and solutions with fellow member companies operating in China.
We hope that you find the Top Ten Tips (PDF 145kb) of use and recommend that you contact Control Risk directly should you seek further assistance.
Updated 4 March, 2010
China Economic Focus Feb 2010
Headlines:
* Fourth quarter 2009 GDP growth figures
* Recovery in exports and imports - strong growth in China-ASEAN trade
* Debate on renminbi appreciation - latest MOFCOM comments
* Bank lending, including latest steps to restrain lending growth
* Risk (or not) of high inflation
* President Hu's latest reaffirmation of the authorities' monetary and fiscal policy stance
* Acceleration in property price rises, though signs of slowdown in some major cities
* Labour shortage increases in coastal regions
* Plans to shift from a registration to survey based measurement of unemployment
* Stock index futures expected to go live next month
Please click here to download the China Economic Focus Feb 2010 (PDF 133kb).
Information source: Peter Mumford (peter.mumford@fco.gov.uk) and Wang Yajing
(wang.yajing@fco.gov.uk) at the UK Embassy in Beijing.
Updated 3 March, 2010
JETC 2010 - Requests for UK business market access issues
The UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETC) will meet in March/April.
The CBI invites UK member companies active in China to submit their market access issues direct to UKTI for inclusion in the talks before 15 March 2010.
For more detailed information kindly click here to download a summary letter and short questionnaire (PDF 44kb).
Updated 2 March, 2010
'Business versus protectionism' - a global perspective
Here are the opinions of the CBI's Beijing, Brussels and Washington DC offices on this contentious issue.
The articles (500 words each) first appeared in the February 2010 Issue of our monthly publication Business Voice and are reproduced for your convenience. Please click here to read the articles (PDF 134kb).
Updated 2 March, 2010
UK Business opportunities to Wuhan & Xian 15-17 March
The UKTI team and CBBC will be taking UK companies on trade missions to Wuhan and Xian over 15-17 March.
If your company is interested in exploring business opportunities in either of these two cities then please contact:
Doug Matheson (doug.matheson@fco.gov.uk), tel: 00 86 10 5192 4371 for more information and details.
Updated 19 February, 2010
Shanghai EXPO 2010 - Latest update for UK Business
The Shanghai World EXPO 2010 will start in less than 75 days and we would like to provide you with the latest news and information from the UK Pavilion - or Dandelion - as it has been nicknamed.
The new interactive UK Pavilion calendar of events is now live. Please don't forget to mark Wednesday 8th September in your diaries. This will be the UK's National Day and will be marked with a rich variety of business and cultural activities.
There will be a total of 125 events (to date) over the 184 days that the UK Pavilion will be open starting on 01 May and finishing on 31 October 2010.
Some fast facts about the UK Pavilion:
- 6000M 2 (approximate size of a soccer pitch)
- Designed by UK based Heatherwick Studio
- Design incorporates "Better City Better Life" EXPO concept
- Likely to be one of the top 3 pavilions visited during EXPO
- 5-7 million visitors expected - more per day than arrive at Heathrow's Terminal 3
- Six storey high structure consists of 60,000 individually fitted 7.5M acrylic rods (45,000 now in place)
- Club UK will be established at JW Marriott hotel (Peoples Square) - details to follow
Updated 15 February, 2010
Representative Offices - are new regulations a concern for business?
The CBI's Beijing representative office was established in January 2006 and has been operational for more than 4 years. Therefore the latest regulations governing representative offices are of particular interest to us.
Whilst there are restrictions on expatriate staff numbers and increased supervision by the Public Security Bureau our office has not experienced significant problems renewing its annual license.
Our observations would be that more paperwork is now required and that the ongoing administrative costs of our representative office have increased.
The CBI Beijing Office would be very interested in hearing from CBI members that have had issues or see the new regulations as a serious restriction to their China expansion plans.
A short overview of the latest regulations and commentary from CBI member Eversheds can be downloaded here (PDF 52kb).
Updated 12 February, 2010
New CBI member companies in China - an update
The CBI is delighted to welcome ArcelorMittal, ConocoPhillips, Sony Music Entertainment and Goodrich aviation to its China network.
All are new members are based in the UK and with extensive China operations. The CBI China Office looks forward to working with them in 2010.
CBI members in China exceed 300, cover more than 20 sectors and are present in more than 25 Chinese provinces.
For more information on members in your sector please contact Guy Dru Drury at guydd@cbi.org.uk.
Updated 12 February, 2010
US-China relations - a view from CBI Washington DC
Following President Obama's State of the Union address and increased attention on US-China relations, CBI China office has invited its Washington DC office to share some US business observations gleaned from CBI members at a roundtable discussion on the subject earlier this week.
Please click here to read US-CH relations Washington.
We are also happy to share with you the CBI's latest America Update written by its Washington Director, Ms. Rhian Chilcott (rhian.chilcott@cbi.org.uk). Download CBI America Update Jan 2010 (PDF 136kb).
Updated 1 February, 2010
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