London, 12^th February 2018: One of the most important annual events for the UK and Chinese business community is the Chinese New Year Banquet, co-hosted by the 48 Group Club and the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK (CCCUK).

After Prime Minister Theresa May made her first visit to Beijing, meeting with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, it was clear that China remains very positive about expanding its relationship with the UK. After securing and showcasing numerous commercial deals and agreements in principle between the two nations, Prime Minister May was told by President Xi that he hoped for an extended relationship and that we can look forward to new ideas and development

Picture 1: H.E. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming and Wife with Professor Liu Mingkang, Chairman Stephen Perry, and Chairman Sun Yu

H.E. Liu Xiaoming, Chinese Ambassador to the UK, Professor Liu Mingkang, former Chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Mr. Jin Xu, the Honorary Chairman of the CCCUK and the Minister Counsellor of the Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in the UK, Mr. Stephen Perry, Chairman of the 48 Group Club, and Mr. Sun Yu, Chairman of the CCCUK, CEO of the Bank of China (UK) Limited attended the long-established 48 Group Club and CCCUK Chinese New Year celebratory dinner. During the keynote speeches, H.E. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming and Professor Liu Mingkang sent strong and positive signals about China’s future growth path and where the UK-China relationship can play a key role.

Many UK leaders from the business community and the world of politics attended the dinner showing their commitment to the British relationship with China. This includes The Rt Hon Lord Bates (Minister of State at the Department for International Development),           The Lord Davidson of Glen Clova QC (Former Advocate General for Scotland), The Rt Hon Lord Hodge(Justice of the Supreme Court of the UK), The Rt Hon Lord Howell of Guildford(formerly deputy leader in the House of Lords), The Rt Hon Lord McNally(formerly deputy leader in the House of Lords),  Sir Martin Davidson(Chairman of the Great Britain China Centre) Mr Nick Earlam(Executive Chairman of Plexus Cotton Limited), Mr Peter Budd CBE(Arup), Prof. Peter Nolan CBE(Jesus College, Cambridge University), Sir William Ehrman(Former Ambassador to China), Mr Graham Cartledge CBE (Benoy Chairman).

Picture 2: Welcome address by CCCUK Chairman Sun Yu

Mr. Sun Yu, Chairman of the CCCUK said, “The year of the fire rooster brought abundant golden fruits to the China-UK relations. Both China and the UK are now stepping into a new era. China is enthusiastic to upgrade its internationalization and the UK is also thriving to unveil and forge a new role as Global Britain in the Post-Brexit Era. This will pave a broad path for win-win cooperation across multiple areas including the Belt and Road Initiative, financial service and scientific innovation. The CCCUK will continue to play a significant role as the facilitator, pioneer and story-teller of the China-UK relations and to deliver more golden fruits in the accelerated golden era”.

Picture 3: Ambassador Liu Xiaoming delivering keynote speech

H.E. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming delivered a keynote Speech “Play a Golden Symphony in the New Era”. Ambassador Liu said in his speech that 2017 was a prosperous and fruitful year for China-UK relations. It was a year of consolidation and success, laden with fruits of cooperation. It was also a year of many highlights in China-UK cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative and ever deeper cooperation between China and the UK in global affairs. Looking ahead, Ambassador Liu noted that 2018 is the opening year for the implementation of the blueprint outlined at the 19th Party Congress in China. It also marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up. For China-UK “Golden Era”, 2018 is the year to shift bilateral ties into a higher gear. Prime Minister May’s successful visit to China at the beginning of the year is a good start for China-UK relations in the whole year, for the visit outlined a new blueprint for China-UK ties, harvested new fruits of business cooperation and boosted bilateral cultural and people-to-people exchanges. As 2018 is the year of dog in Chinese Culture, the three letters “D”“O”“G”, said the Ambassador, stands for “Diligence”, “Obligation” and “Goal”. The Ambassador expressed the hope that China and the UK can work hard to seize the new opportunities in the spirit of diligence, to gather new impetus for our bilateral cooperation in the spirit of obligation, and to have a clear goal and focus on producing new outcomes, dedicating wisdom and strength to build the China-UK “Golden Era” 2.0 and play a “golden symphony” in the new era.

Picture 4: Former Chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission Liu Mingkang delivering keynote speech

Professor Liu Mingkang, former Chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission delivered a keynote speech on China’s outlook in 2018. In his speech, Professor Liu has provided a vivid picture of China’s development opportunities and challenges on all fronts. With detailed analysis of both global and domestic concerns, he said that: “The Chinese economy has developed very fast over the past decades, but it is still on a “long soft landing” growth path. China has undertaken a series of pro-business reforms and will become increasingly open. In the long term, successful productivity-enhancing reforms are vital in sustaining China’s economic growth”. In respect of China-UK relations, he is confident that China and the UK will make joint efforts in addressing global issues and seizing every golden opportunity in the new era.

The Honorary Chairman of the CCCUK, Minister Counsellor of the Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in the UK, Mr. Jin Xu acknowledged the outstanding contribution to the China-UK Relations from both the CCCUK and the 48 Group Club in his speech. He noted that 2017 was a fruitful year for China-UK Economic and Trade Cooperation. In 2018, the Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in the UK will continue to provide solid support to Chinese and British enterprises, delivering more golden fruits in the China-UK “Golden Era”.

Picture 6: Closing remarks by the 48 Group Club Chairman Stephen Perry

Stephen Perry, Chairman of the 48 Group Club said that: “Some 65 years on from the original ‘Icebreakers’ ground-breaking trip to China, we continue to work with UK business and other organisations to help them understand, and benefit from, the opportunities offered by a resurgent China.”

Organisations judged to have made outstanding contributions each year to China-UK relations are also recognised at the dinner each year in the annual KPMG-sponsored 48 Group Club CCCUK Business Awards. AstraZeneca and China State Development & Investment Corporation (SDIC) were this year’s winners, and presented with their awards by Chinese Ambassador H.E. Liu Xiaoming.

Picture 7: H.E. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming presenting award to Marc Dunoyer, CFO of AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca was awarded The 48 Group Club CCCUK KPMG Business Award for British Investment in China. AstraZeneca has witnessed significant growth in its Chinese market. In November, they formed a $133M China joint venture-Dizal Pharmaceutical, with the Chinese Future Industry Investment Fund (FIIF). During the recent trip by UK PM Teresa May, AstraZeneca signed agreements with Alibaba’s Ali Health, and Tencent, with the aim of harnessing technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IOT) to improve diagnosis and care for patients, and also tackle the issue of online counterfeit drug sales.

Picture 8: H.E. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming presenting award to Mr. Fan Yi, Secretary of the Board of SDIC

China State Development & Investment Corporation (SDIC) was awarded The 48 Group Club CCCUK KPMG Business Award for Chinese Investment in the UK. China State Development & Investment Corporation (SDIC) Fund Management Company, one of the largest PE funds in China, manages over $9.1 billion of capital.  A strong champion of BRI and “Made in China 2025”, SDIC has invested 33.3 billion RMB in 78 countries to date, including considerable investment in the UK offshore wind sector by their SDIC Power Holdings division.

Picture 9: Prof. Liu Mingkang presenting award to Douglas Flint CBE

Douglas Flint, Chairman of HSBC (2010-2017), recently appointed by the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer as the UK Treasury’s Belt and Road Envoy, was awarded The 48 Group Club CCCUK Lifetime Award, and presented by former Chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission, Mr Liu Mingkang.

The dinner was held in the Dorchester hotel with 500 VIPs from business, politics, and culture attending. Many of the VIPs present commented that Prime Minister May’s successful visit to China was a good start to an important year for China-UK relations as the Brexit negotiations continue. They look forward to more joint efforts between both sides to promote greater development of the “Golden Era” for China-UK relations in this new era.

About the 48 Group Club：

Founded in 1954 by a group of UK’s business people who broke the embargo on China by the western countries and were thus honored as the “Icebreakers”, the 48 Group Club has been dedicated to the friendly cooperation with China for a long term. In May 2008, the 48 Group Club Young Icebreakers was established following private conversations between China’s Premier Wen Jiabao and the 48 Group Club in order to build on the strong foundations laid by the original Icebreakers and promote positive China-UK relations among young professionals.

China Chamber of Commerce in the UK：

The China Chamber of Commerce in the UK (CCCUK) was founded in 2001 (previously known as the China Enterprises Association in Britain), mainly consists of Chinese enterprises in the UK and Chinese economic and trade organisations. The CCCUK is a non-profit organisation representing and serving interests of Chinese enterprises, aiming to promote China-UK economic and trade relations.

In September 2015, China Enterprises Association in Britain was re-named as the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK. CCCUK aims to establish close relations with British companies, trade promotion organisations, chambers of commerce, business associations and appropriate UK government departments, to organise and participate in business activities and events both in China and in the UK and to provide services to Chinese enterprises in Britain to assist their establishment and future growth.

At present, there are nearly 200 member enterprises, covering dozens of sectors, including finance, insurance, telecommunications, energy products, technical manufacturing, real estate construction, transportation and shipping, trading, government agencies, media press, commercial services etc. CCCUK has 24 board member companies, and four committees including, Financial Committee, Trade Committee, Technology Committee and Supervisory & Management Committee.

With support from the Chinese Embassy in the UK, the CCCUK has grown into an important force representing business interests of Chinese enterprises in the UK and launching external activities as well.