I’m very happy that I’m back online and able to blog again after an enforced absence due to Purdah (which prevents public bodies like UKTI from issuing information during the election period) and then a vacation (unenforced, but not if …
I’m opening a big event in Manchester today when we welcome over 120 firms from all round the region to hear about the wealth of opportunities for them in the Middle East. We’ve brought 19 of our commercial people from …
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 …
How many cities of 7 million people, capital of an area of 90 million people, have you never heard of? Would you imagine HMG has no diplomatic representation there when we have to the Vatican, Luxembourg, Uruguay and Nepal)? Welcome …
Meetings are different in China. As leader of the delegation, I sit in an armchair side by side with my Chinese opposite number, making long interventions. So we don’t look at each other, we don’t spark off each other’s ideas, …
Chinese infrastructure efficiency hits me as I arrived at Shanghai’s Pudong airport. The BA flight was over an hour late, so I had 20 minutes to get through quarantine and immigration, to change terminal, check in, go through security and find the right gate. At Heathrow this would have taken two hours minimum. The officials were helpful, the system worked, the new China.
