FDI

China is asking difficult questions of foreign investors and has seemingly changed how it approaches economic engagement with the wider world. British companies will need to pay even closer attention to what is coming out of Beijing if they are to stay ahead in China, cautions Joe Cash “The world is not waiting for China to resolve its Covid challenge… [foreign companies] move on, and China runs the risk of …

The UK government has just introduced a new National Security and Investment Bill (the NSI Bill), which will grant the government new powers to restrict – and block – investment by malicious and potentially harmful foreign actors in 17 crucial sectors. CBBC‘s Torsten Weller looks at its potential impact. Here’s a summary: In the bill, the scope of ‘potential harm’ will be expanded to include assets – such as land …

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel Kt is the Minister for investment jointly at the Department for International Trade, and at the department for Business, energy and industrial strategy. He spoke to CBBC members about his role, his ambitions to support British business in China and the future of trade in a post virus world.  In his role as double minister, Lord Grimstone’s role is, he says, simply to attract investment into …

As the Leeds City Region rapidly becomes Yorkshire’s media hub, a range of other businesses are also seeing the benefits of Chinese investment, writes Tom Pattinson The Leeds City Region, which includes, amongst others, the surrounding areas of Harrogate, Bradford, Barnsley, Huddersfield, Wakefield and York has also been very active in attracting Chinese investment. The area has a strong manufacturing history and has become a major northern media hub with …

With Manchester one of the more prosperous cities in the north of England, there is much to be gained as it links with Chinese markets, writes Tom Pattinson To date, there is an enduring sense that there is significant disparity in government expenditure between the north and south of England. Whilst some argue that there are similar levels of public spending between the two, a recent report from the Centre …

The launch of the UK’s first TusPark Innovation Centre in Newcastle acts to provide a strong foundation for UK companies wishing to enter the Chinese market, writes Tom Pattinson On the other side of the country, TusPark Innovation Centre launched its first UK campus in Newcastle. TusPark – or Tsinghua University Science Park – originated as an innovation centre and high-tech incubator next to the famous Beijing-based university. There are …

In both Liverpool and Lancashire, there is a strong sense of Chinese cultural heritage which canny operators are using to develop their business, writes Tom Pattinson  Liverpool’s deep relationship with China goes back to the 1830s when ships bringing silks and cotton and tea from China docked in Liverpool’s famous port. Alfred Holt who founded the Blue Funnel Shipping Line, hired a large number of Chinese seamen in the 1860s …

Kaitlin Zhang explains how UK technology firms can reach out to Chinese investors In the first half of 2018, Chinese outbound foreign direct investment (OFDI) has dramatically veered towards Europe over North America. The value of completed Chinese investments was six times higher in Europe (£9.3 billion total with £1.25 billion in the UK) than in North America (£1.55 billion), according to    Baker McKenzie and Rhodium Group. This trend …

Danae Kyriakopoulou assesses China’s shifting role as a Global Public Investor Chinese public investors – central banks, sovereign funds and public pension funds – increased their assets by $145bn during 2017, according to the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum’s (OMFIF) Global Public Investor (GPI) 2018 report. The report tracks the assets under management of 750 such institutions from 174 countries that collectively hold $36.2 trillion of assets, equivalent to …