DED delegation returns from visit to China

The Department of Economic Development has just completed a successful visit to the People's Republic of China. The visit took place as part of DED's country strategy which has been developed in conjunction with the private sector and targets countries proven to have the highest potential for developing new business.

The delegation consisted of director of the department's Business Development Agency Tim Craine, executive director of international business development Michael Charlton and head of special projects Steven Beevers. The visit was designed to test and refine three specific propositions that have been developed to appeal to a Chinese audience, namely a model for importing goods into the UK and EU offering a cost effective, efficient and high quality service solution; access to capital markets for Chinese companies looking to float on the stock market; and solutions for wealth management, drawing on the Island's expertise, and tried and tested solutions.

The delegation went to Beijing and Shanghai and visited a range of Chinese ministries.

Meetings also took place with the China British Business Council (CBBC), the 'big four' international accountancy firms, a Chinese 'big five' bank, international and local law firms, local Chinese lawyers, ultra high net worth individuals and a 'boot camp' for entrepreneurs.

DED says the feedback received was uniformly positive and informative and will facilitate a further fine tuning of the three main propositions. A number of individuals and groups are planning to visit the Isle of Man on the back of the visit, to find out more about how it can add value to their business interests.

The plan is to return to China in late October with representatives of the local business community and to take up the numerous offers to help publicise the benefits the Island can bring to Chinese businesses and entrepreneurs. The October visit will take in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The next meeting of the China Forum Country Strategy Group is planned for the morning of Thursday, September 22, and anyone wishing to find out more can contact Steven Beevers at steven.beevers@gov.im

(Pictured, left to right: Steven Beevers, Michael Charlton, banquet host L I Jianping, and Tim Craine).