The nearly weekly blog

When our little company set off nearly thirty years ago I would not have believed anyone who said “one day you will be speaking to over 130 Chinese business owners about the UK economy and British business in general in Shanghai”.

A couple of days before I had been sat in Concorde at Manchester airport marvelling at the ability of the supersonic aircraft and the guide said we had gone backwards but have we? An A380 took e from Paris to Shanghai in 10.5 hours with no fuel stops which Concorde would have needed at least one plus whilst out there I was corresponding with the UK and Australia with immediate response

Furthermore, that I would make some very useful contacts for our clients back in the UK with British based companies looking for foreign investment from Chinese business owners.

Well it all happened this week. Having been asked by the Yingde Group who has their UK head office in Manchester to speak at their conferences in China last year I made sure I had room in my diary for this year.

Heading off from Manchester on the Thursday evening for Paris and then onto Shanghai 6,000 miles away and a whole day later it has been an absolute pleasure is somewhat tiring.

Two days of presentations, dinners and sleepless nights has seen me interacting with 6 hopeful British businesses, a Salford based property company, numerous Chinese business owners, a Russian agent (not that type) who looks after her clients negotiations with factories in China as well as the Chinese based staff of Yingde.

So why were all these people in Shanghai for the weekend?

Well, the British businesses were there looking for investment. The level 1 tier visa scheme allows Chinese investors to lend up to £200,000 over five years at favourable rates with the provision but not always a necessity for a Chinese citizen to come over and work for the company in the UK.

Did they achieve there goal, when I left some had and some had not. One company had one offer on the table and was in talks with a Chinese business owner who imported what they manufactured and another was speaking to a couple of businesses on behalf of clients in the UK.

It should also be said that I heard may stories of UK businesses establishing vital links with Chinese manufacturers and businesses due to having a Chinese citizen working in their company.

For the Chinese is allows their postgraduate students to gain valuable work experience in the UK, it is of course a means of investing in the UK and making valuable trade links between the two countries.

The Salford based property developer was there to show off their sites across Manchester and was seeing Chinese investors wanting to buy property to be rented out when finished.

Yingde is the conduit who puts everybody together so if it sounds of interest send me a quick email simon@edmondson.eu and I will make the introduction.

Oh yes the Russian agent! She was there to translate for one of the British businesses but also to speak to the other businesses to help them with the link between Chinese manufacturers and businesses though she was a little suspicious of me when I mentioned my link to the FSB!