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 the Department’s country strategy which has been developed in conjunction with the private sector and which is designed to target those countries which have been proven to have the highest potential for developing new business. The delegation consisted of Tim Craine, the Department’s Business Development Agency Director, Michael Charlton, the Department’s Executive Director of International Business Development and Steven Beevers, the Department’s Head of Special Projects. 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 · Solutions for Wealth Management – drawing on the Island’s expertise and tried and tested solutions in this regard The delegation visited Beijing and Shanghai and visited a range of Chinese Ministries including: · The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) · National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC) · State Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) · 31st August 2011 – 14.00 China Banking Regulatory Commission · Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) · China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) · Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce 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 (UHNWIs) and a “boot camp” for entrepreneurs. The feedback was uniformly positive and informative and will facilitate a further fine tuning of the three main propositions. There are already a number of individuals and groups who are planning to visit the Island on the back of this visit to find out more about how the Island 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 of help to help publicise the benefits that 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 22nd September and anyone wishing to find out more should contact Steven Beevers at steven.beevers@gov.im Economic Development Minister Allan Bell said: ‘I am delighted that the visit to China was such a success. The Island still needs to do more to raise the profile of its benefits in key market target areas such as China. Only by pro-actively looking further afield will the Island succeed in further geographically diversifying the economy.’ Tim Craine, Director of the Business Development Agency said: ‘It was encouraging that the propositions we were presenting received such widespread interest and that there is a real interest in learning more about the Isle of Man and how we can add value to Chinese businesses in a number of key areas.’ Other tier one countries/regions which are included in the Department’s country strategy are the Middle East and Russia. Tier two countries that will also form part of the strategy going forward include India and Singapore. ENDS