SPEAKER British Ambassador to China Sir William Ehrman

EVENT 2009 British Business Awards

DATE 03/11/2009

Dr Sun Yongfu, Awards finalists, ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to the 2009 British Business Awards.

The Awards celebrate outstanding contributions to Sino-British trade and investment by British companies and institutions. They also celebrate the outstanding achievements of UK-educated Chinese alumni, many of whom themselves make great contributions to Sino-British trade and investment.

Building on last year’s successful launch, I am delighted that this year’s Awards have seen not only an increase in the number of applications but perhaps even more importantly a wider spectrum of industries and activities entering the competition.

Finalists include companies and institutions engaged in aeronautics, architecture, design, education, engineering, environmental conservation, energy efficiency, fashion, financial services, legal services, information & communications technologies, manufacturing, property and retailing.

In 2008, UK exports of goods and services to China grew by 40%, a record increase.  Bilateral trade reached $59bn, which was within a whisker of the target set by the Prime Minister to reach $60bn in bilateral trade by 2010.  China had overtaken Japan in 2007 to become Britain's largest market for goods outside the US and the EU.  From our 14th largest market in 2006, China has risen to become our 9th largest market today.

The economic crisis has made this year difficult.  But total UK-China trade for the first eight months of 2009 is in fact up on the same period of 2008 in sterling value.  British exports of goods to China are down slightly, by 4.4%, but this is the smallest drop among the UK’s top 10 markets. And looking at just June, July and August, UK exports to China are up on 2008. I think there is a good chance that our exports will be up in sterling value for the year as a whole.  That would be a remarkable achievement in these hard times. 

Such results are testament to the hard work of many of you here tonight, ably supported by UK Ministers, UK Trade & Investment, the China-Britain Business Council and the Chambers. Can I also thank Dr Sun and his colleagues in the Ministry of Commerce for the support they give to our endeavours?  It is a great pleasure to have Dr Sun with us tonight.

Of course, trade is only one side of the coin. In August 2009, the UK’s total realised investment into China exceeded $16bn.  This means the UK remains the largest EU investor into China by value.

In the other direction, investment into the UK from China continues to grow strongly.  There are over 430 Chinese companies now in Britain.  59 went there last year and there are even more who are going this year.  I would particularly like to welcome Michael Charlton, the Chief Executive of Think London, who is with us this evening and who does so much to help inward investment work.

The strength of China’s relationship with Britain in the field of higher education is reflected in the diversity of this year’s finalists for the Alumnus of the Year award, featuring graduates in communications, construction economics, fashion design, technology, marketing, and television studies. Last academic year there were 85,000 Chinese students in Britain.  This year 33,000 new mainland students have gone to Britain, which is 30% more than last year.  In the other direction we had 3,200 British students in China in 2008/9, a welcome increase from the 1,500 two years earlier. Half of the UK's higher educational institutions now have partnerships with Chinese counterparts, and over 500 British schools have added Chinese to the curriculum.  Tonight I am delighted that we have with us, as a VIP alumna, Deng Yaping, four times Olympic gold medallist and six times world champion at table tennis.  We have once played ping-pong and not surprisingly I didn't win a point.  We are both Cambridge graduates but she also sweeps the academic board against me, holding a PhD while I only have an MA!  Could I also warmly welcome Ms Yang Xinu, the Director General of the China Scholarship Council.

The British Business Awards have shown themselves this year to be truly a pan-China affair, with applicants from the length and breadth of China.  Last week I visited one of the finalists in the partnership category, Pilkington, in Changchun in north-east China. Two weeks early I had visited the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh, another finalist in the partnership category, several thousand meters up a mountainside in Yunnan in the south-west of China.

The Awards have been staged with excellent cooperation between the British Chambers of Commerce across China, and I am particularly pleased that the British Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai will host the Awards there next year during Shanghai World Expo.

Can I congratulate all those who have taken the time and made the effort to enter the Awards this year, and to salute the finalists who are joining us here tonight?

I would like warmly to thank the premier sponsors for this year’s Awards, the British Council, the British Chamber, BP, the China-Britain Business Council, Standard Chartered Bank and UK Trade and Investment, as well as supporting organisations such as my colleagues at the British Embassy, the Confederation of British Industry and The 48 Group. We also greatly appreciate the support of Tesco for their sponsorship of tonight’s drinks.  A very big thank you too to the judges.  They are all experts with experience of doing business in China, who have given up significant time to the Awards.  Lastly, thanks to Duncan Clark, the Chairman of the Awards, and his team, all of whom have done a really great job.  Please, ladies and gentlemen, give all the sponsors, supporters, judges and the Awards team a big round of applause.

I hope you enjoy the evening.  My personal hope is to see $100bn of trade in goods and services between China and Britain by 2013.  You need something to aim at for the year after the London Olympics!

 

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