A strong delegation from the UK will head for China in April (13 – 22 April 2013, Beijing and Guangdong) to lure Chinese investment to the UK.

The delegation will showcase the specific investment propositions in the UK at China’s national level Go Global event – the 7th China Enterprise Outbound Investment Conference (CEOIC) (Beijing, 17th/18th April).

An Investing in the UK seminar will focus on promoting key locations, specific projects and service sectors propositions that are of particular interest to Chinese investors.

LinkToChina is inviting participants from UK local authorities, professional services, developers and project owners, British firms seeking new investors and joint-venture partners, and companies looking to sell their businesses.

Already, four of the six speaking slots have been booked. Proposals from prime locations, hospitality sectors, hotels, regeneration sites, infrastructure, sports business, design and branding etc. are being assembled by the LinkToChina team based in Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce.

2012 was a remarkable year for Chinese investment into the UK. While the headlines were all on the big deals done by the sovereign funds like the 9% stakes of Thames Water and 10% holding of BAA, there are also non-sovereign fund investments such as Huawei’s announce of £1.3 billion investment in the UK. Many Chinese companies also invested in the UK for the 2012 summer Olympics. Total Chinese investment in the UK amount to $8 billion in 2012.

The Conference is the largest gathering of more than 1000 potential investors, government agencies, business media, professionals and multipliers.

Last year, the LinkToChina delegation took a number of inviting propositions to the conference and was well received. Bracknell, Slough and Oxford were among the key locations were promoted to the same conference. Over 60 Chinese businesses subsequently visited the three locations in September.

Dr. Kegang Wu, Executive Director of BCC LinkToChina programme, who have been a speaker for the conference in the last 5 years, believes there is much potential for Chinese private sectors and SMEs to invest in the UK economy, quoting the sample of Hytera UK (Slough) that won last year’s Windsor Award for Investment in the UK: “UK and Chinese businesses complement each other well structurally and can learn from each other through investing in each other.”

The delegation’s proposed programme includes meetings with prospective Chinese investors in Guangdong Province, the economic powerhouse in Southern China. Guangdong is home to Huawei and Hytera, already actively investors in the UK. A new edition of the popular How To Do Business in the UK – A Practical Guide will be available at the conference.