I took the Maglev to Shanghai airport this morning. At 430km/hr it was a symbol of China’s self-confidence, a celebration of innovation and a good illustration of the phrase, “if you don’t try, you won’t fail”.
Of course some experiments will please some and not others. The incense in the loos doesn’t do it for me. Others are not to my taste. Disneyland is coming to Shanghai; I won’t go (my kids are grown up), but millions will. Some require a change of mindset. I took receipt of the keys of an MG6, a super new MG manufactured in China, but designed in the UK, for a competition on the UK Expo pavilion website. I loved the car, but my 25 year love of MG’s made me nostalgic for “Morris Garages” not “Modern Gentlemen”.
But that is the way of change. Shanghai Automotives rescue of the MG brand is a great thing. They are pumping in capital investment, they are using a resource we had abandoned and it will mean the UK will benefit as they conduct the R&D and design in the UK and perhaps, manufacture again at Longbridge.
I came away from China with one overriding conclusion. The more of FDI we attract from China, the better it will be for the UK from a 20 year perspective. We are witnessing a shift as great as the fall of the Berlin Wall, which had its 20 year anniversary while I was in China.
China is no doubt an economic superpower. Their investment will challenge us competitively, force us to learn Chinese business styles, plug investment gaps and link us to future success. My last engagement was to host a dinner for Chinese inward investors; they varied from the super-sophisticated to recent start ups. But all are welcome. And UKTI can help them be successful.
Our investment in the Shanghai Expo 2010 is another must-do. I launched the website (ukshanghaiexpo.com), which will be fully interactive in January. It gives a glimpse of how wonderful our pavilion is going to be. I went round the site, the UK site is located near the entrance, and saw the first few hundred of the 70,000 acrylic spikes being fitted. It will be a celebration of Britain’s creativity and wholly unlike other pavilions. Like all innovations, it is a risk. But we are saying to the Chinese, “we are the best in the world at a whole lot of things, work with us”.
The last two days of the visit were in Hong Kong and Shanghai. The buzz of both reminds me of my first visit to Manhattan as a 22 year old in the company of my future wife.
Hong Kong saw a major speech (eleven speeches in a week, phew!); intensive meals with the British business community and inward investors; a site tour of the new parliament building being built by a part-UK consortium; oh and seeing Danny Lopez, my marketing head, on the screens as I entered the Consulate. Losing Danny to the London Development Agency is a blow. He has been so wonderful in developing our brand and imagery. He deserves this position and I wish him all the very best.
So all in all, a good week. It was physically tough. I started with a stomach upset so I could not eat for the first two days; had an average of 4 hours sleep a night which is far, far too little, and forgot my coat, so was cold throughout. It was worth it though. Doing the visit really mattered. The teams put on a great programme and UK plc will continue to benefit from the striking parallels in their tastes in design and brands and their need for infrastructure