The China Bureau was among the key participants at a high-level online gathering which discussed doing in business in China.

Dozens of attendees from the UK and China dialled in via Zoom to the China Market Workshop, which looked at how to seize trade opportunities in the world’s second largest economy.

The event was led by the China-Britain Business Council and Invest Bristol & Bath, the inward investment arm of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) and focused on China’s Greater Bay Area, which includes Bristol’s twin city Guangzhou.

After a welcome from West of England Mayor Tim Bowles, Valentina de Micheli, business development manager at Invest Bristol & Bath, discussed industrial synergies and joint opportunities for collaboration, trade and investment between our region and the GBA.

Valentina was followed by Jamie Shaw of the China-Britain Business Council, who discussed emerging opportunities for trade and investment with China, and Paul Hardman, secretary of the Bristol and West of England China Bureau and director and head of corporate commercial at Gregg Latchams, whose topic was the importance of due diligence – intellectual property and legal considerations.

The event ended with a presentation from David Field, senior manager, tax, at Grant Thornton, entitled “Doing Business in China – Circumventing Barriers.”

Dianne Francombe OBE, chief executive of the Bristol & West of England China Bureau, said: “China is a fast-growing, dynamic marketplace and UK exports to China have almost doubled over the past five years.

“The Greater Bay Area is the world’s largest economic zone and has an economy worth $1.5 trillion, which is larger than some G20 countries. This is predicted to double to $2.8 trillion by 2025.

“China and the Greater Bay Area are shifting to a service and consumption driven economy, driving the demand for imported technologically driven products and solutions.

“With 43,000 high-tech enterprises, 43 tech unicorns and 20 Fortune 500 companies, there exists clear synergies with companies in the West of England, particularly within the sectors of creative and digital, high tech and advance manufacturing including robotics, AI, 5G and aerospace.”

The China Bureau is now embarking on a new project to identify and promote all the business engagement with China across the region, especially start-ups and research projects. The final outcome of the China Eco System initiative will be to showcase a Virtual China Centre platform in the UK and China.