NBDL - Nottingham Business Development

Ningbo is making every effort to build itself a reputation as one of the key exhibition cities in China. According to official statistics, there were 206 exhibitions and celebrations held in Ningbo last year, and this year, the figure will rise to 260, including 130 exhibitions, 60 forums and 60 celebration activities.
After the Chinese New year, I visited Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (BOFTEC). Mr. LI Xinhua, Deputy Director, introduced the 7th China International Consumer Goods Faire that is to be held 8-12 June. There will be 7 exhibition zones with 3,500 booths: household textiles, home appliances, consumer goods, gifts, foodstuff and yachts. Free shuttle bus will be provided for overseas visitors from Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport during the fair.
In the same building I also met Mr. GANG Yong, another Deputy Director, who told me about 10th Zhejiang Trade Fair that is to be held at the same date, same venue as Consumer Goods Fair. As a sister-city to Ningbo, Nottingham City Council will set up a booth and send representatives to attend.
Ningbo Garment Association and Ningbo International Exhibition Co., Ltd. are preparing 1st Outlets Exhibition to be held 23-26 May. The exhibition it aims to combine the whole industry chain to establish a platform for manufacturers, sales and buyers to meet together. I attended the first preparatory meeting. Ningbo Municipal government has showed great support because the exhibition presents a new idea.
The exhibitions in Ningbo have mushroomed, yet Ningbo businessmen are active in going out to attend East China Trade Fair in Shanghai from 1 to 5 March. The Ningbo business group reached contract valued 398 million, an 8% increase than last year.

After a busy Chinese New Year holiday, I returned to Ningbo, buried in exciting new work.
Last year I paid a visit to Ningbo Industrial Design Investment and Development Co., Ltd, learning that the government is going to invest in a ‘Creative Street’ project in Jiangdong District to attract foreign industrial design workshops. Last week I paid another visit to Ningbo Commercial and Industrial Assets Co., Ltd. who introduced Xinzhi No. 8 Creative Park. Rebuilt from an old factory of Ningbo Wheel Machinery, it consists of 17 workshops, 13 amongst which have rented out. The company hopes that well-known architecture, indoor design and animated cartoon workshops will come. The park will official open in March.
Without the protection of Intellectual Property, creative industry won’t develop in a healthy way. Last year Zhejiang Intellectual Property Bureau succeeded in applying Global Opportunity Funds from the British government, and organised a round-table conference of Ningbo Private Enterprise IP Rights Protection at the end of Feb. Dozens of well-known Ningbo private entrepreneurs attended and shared experience of how to protect IP rights. Meanwhile they asked questions and raised their wishes to the government.
The last week of Feb. saw Mr. John Connelly from Nottingham City Council and Mr. Peter Gao from Linx International in Ningbo and Jiaxing. They came to discuss with local Foreign Affairs Office, BOFTEC, CCPIT and media about Nottingham Forest Football visit in June, together with a big commercial delegation.
A good beginning is half done. A busy kick-off means great opportunities and challenges for 2008. Let us be ready.

Ningbo is famous for its active private economy that contributes around 70% of the whole GDP. However in the past a few months, a cloud has been cast over Ningbo entrepreneurs.
Since 2006, the Chinese government has amended preferential policies to exporting companies because China holds a very large surplus in trading with other countries. The changes have doubtlessly affected the small import and export companies. From January 2008, new labour and contract law has come into effect. The law further protects workers’ rights and expands their benefits, but in turn it causes the increase of labour cost. Also, the government has implemented tight monetary policies to fight against the high inflation rate, resulting in all the commercial banks reducing their loans to businesses. All of these issues have become a big challenge for private entrepreneurs.
We can still see a silver lining. Youngor Group, the leading fashion company in China, announced last week that it has completed acquiring US Kellwood's Smart Shirts business for approximately $120 million in cash. The business doesn’t only mean that Chinese companies have gone overseas, but also means that Chinese companies have started to climb up the industry chain.
The world is becoming flat with globalisation. For a long time now, Chinese factories have been working at the low end of the industry with a low profit. But look at the other end – design, marketing, branding , all enjoy great value. If Chinese companies want to become really strong and big, they will have to squeeze into the high end in the developed markets.
So glad to see that Chinese companies have realised and started thinking at the forefront of these challenges, and that Youngor, a leading Ningbo company, is quick to take action. Hope more followers will grasp such opportunities.

Although Nottingham Business Development Co., Ltd. Ningbo Office was established 6 months ago and it officially started daily operation in Oct. 2007, it has been accepted by more and more people. This won’t happen without the keen support of Nottingham City Council or the great assistance of Ningbo Municipal Government. How exciting to see the office has played as a bridge and devote to the exchange of business, education and culture between Nottingham and Ningbo. Hard working people deserve the fruitful achievement.
In 2007, we received 2 education delegations from Nottingham, and attended Ningbo Fashion Festival and Ningbo Tourism Exhibition. We also met Ningbo government organisations and visited several Ningbo fashion companies and Ningbo Hi-tech Park. The more I know about Ningbo, the more I like the vigorous city.
2008 will see the Olympic Games to be held in Beijing. More and more foreign friends will come to China, understand it and feel it. 2008 will also see exchange activities between Nottingham and Ningbo, e.g. Ningbo Week in Nottingham in April, Zhejiang Investment Symposium in Ningbo in June, Nottingham Forest Team visit to Ningbo in July, and Ningbo Fashion Festival in Oct.
All the brilliance 2008!

The Nottingham Further Education delegation came to visit Ningbo 3-7 Dec. There are 4 such further education colleges in Nottingham: New College Nottingham, South Nottingham College, Castle College and Bilborough College. Three colleges sent representatives to look for development opportunities.

They had a full week. With the help under Ningbo Foreign Affairs Office and Ningbo Municipal Education Bureau, the delegation met Ningbo Foreign Affairs School and Ningbo No. 9 Middle School to discuss further co-operation plans. Moreover, they paid the first visit to Ningbo Wanli International School, Huamao Foreign Language School and Zhejiang Textile and Garment College to understand each other, and find out possibility to introduce A-level study in Ningbo.

The visit turned out very successful. The colleges expressed strong wish to come back to Ningbo in the near future. And we look forward to their fruitful collaboration.

My office is located in Ningbo, but our NBDL targets the whole Zhejiang province. The City of Jiaxing, for example, is a very important business partner.
Jiaxing is situated right in the middle of the province, between Shanghai and Hangzhou (capital city of Zhejiang Province). The highway and railway between Shanghai and Hangzhou, as well as the highway to Jiangsu province cross here. In addition, the new cross-sea bridge linking Shanghai and Ningbo passes by here. Therefore Jiaxing, richly endowed by nature, enjoys a wonderful location and excellent transport links.
Small as she is, Jiaxing boasts a glorious period of Chinese history – the second half of the first plenary session of Chinese Communist Party was held in a boat on the South Lake.
With the great support of Jiaxing Municipal Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, business links between Nottingham and Jiaxing are very strong. When John Connelly and I visited Jiaxing the end of October, we called on two UK companies that have settled there. One is Wilkie Technical Textile and the other is Purico, a company manufacturing cigarette papers. Both businesses have worked very well there, and praised Jiaxing’s excellent environment for business.
At the Jiaxing/Yangtze River Delta Economic Development Forum that was held on 8 November, another UK company, Tesco, signed an agreement with Jiashan County Government to set up a logistics and distribution centre.
We look forward to seeing more UK companies in the Zhejiang province. Either in Ningbo or Jiaxing, and my office will be ready to offer support.

Two officials from Nottingham City Council, Mr. John Connelly and Ms. Yiyun Ling, came to visit the Ningbo Fashion Show that was held 22-25 Oct. They also brought Ms. Nicola Francis, Programme Officer of Art & Design School in Nottingham Trent University.
The show is one of the most important local festivals and attracts its audience and buyers from all over the world. There are over 2,000 exhibitors in 6 halls. If you are interested in learning more about the event, here is the website address www.iffiar.cn (an English version is also available there).
We talked with large Ningbo garment manufacturers at their stands, such as Youngor, Shanshan (Firs), Romon, Rouse and Progen. All showed great interest in working with UK companies/schools, especially in garment design and brand management. The local enterprises have realised that Chinese are very skilful at making top quality suits, but they have a long way to go before becoming world-class companies. Therefore they are keen to work with international partners to climb up the chain. Later, we went to visit the factories of Youngor and Shanshan. Seeing is believing.
Nicola left with very positive feedback that these companies are happy to receive graduates from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) on internships in the future. For those who are not familiar with NTU, I’d like to extend a few words. There are two universities in Nottingham. University of Nottingham is already well-known with its campus in Ningbo. The other is NTU, named after the river of Trent that flows through Nottingham. Amongst a vast range of courses and subjects, it offers top courses in fashion design and fashion business(www.ntu.ac.uk).

The Nottingham Education Group came to visit Ningbo 15-19 Oct. 2007. Led by Mr. Alistair Conquer, Head of Curriculum Services, Nottingham City Council, the delegation consisted of 3 government officials and 6 teachers from Nottingham primary and middle schools.
The visit was funded and supported by the British Council, with the main objective to add international elements to the curriculum of Nottingham schools based on first-hand experience with Ningbo students and teachers.
The local schools involved were Haishu Central Primary School, Jiangdong Central Primary School, Ningbo No. 7 Middle School, Huamao International School and Wanli International Middle School. The teachers spent 3 days with their linked partners, who arranged wonderful activities of listening in the class, teaching students/pupils, attending the school sports meetings and paying a visit to a pupil’s home.
The visit proved very successful and fruitful. Some schools have been discussing future collaboration plans that can start soon. At the farewell party on Friday, Alistair, on behalf of the whole delegation, toasted for long-term friendship and future success.

This BLOG was written on the plane from London to Shanghai.
This Golden Week of Chinese National Holiday saw me in Nottingham, not for leisure, but for the Introduction Week that Nottingham City Council Regional and International Team tailored for me to catch up on my knowledge about the city.
I was busy the whole week, with a full meeting and visit arrangement. The meetings with officials from Regional and International Team and Economy Development Team in the City Council gave me an overview on the future plan that Nottingham is keen to develop finance, creative industry and science technology. The city has been designated One of the Six Science Cities in the UK.
East Midlands China Business Bureau gave a brilliant presentation about the whole region and the future plan to focus on environment technology, transport, healthcare, food and drink (food processing) sectors.
University of Nottingham has already enjoyed a high reputation in China, and of course I couldn’t miss that. Besides, I attended the opening ceremony of MPA course for 25 Hangzhou officials by Nottingham Trent University – another well-known university in the City.
The visit and talk to 4 Nottingham Further Education Colleges has been very fruitful. All showed high interest and keen wishes to collaborate in China, and they have planned a follow-up visit early December back to Ningbo to make a feasible business plan.
All in all, the visit was excellent. I will kick off right after I return to Ningbo. In the near future, more progress will be put in my BLOG, and the first is the school delegation in Ningbo 15-19 Oct. So please wait.

Hello, my dear friends. I believe we are all refreshed after relaxing in the summer vacation, and go back to work in a high spirit to prepare for another busy season.

I have been fully occupied with my relocation in recent weeks, from Shanghai to Ningbo.

The two cities, like twin sisters in East China, enjoy a good relationship and share many similarities. As early as the Mid-19th century, Queen Victoria's Government paid equally high attention to the two trading ports and set up consulates, first in Ningbo and then in Shanghai. With business soaring in the early 20th century, many Ningbo enterprises moved to or headquartered in Shanghai. Their hard-working and talented business sense helped create business miracles, one after another.

It is exchange activities that bring about prosperity. Entering the new era, the Yangtze Delta River has started another round of interactions. Ningbo and Shanghai have their own merits. Ningbo is strong in certain industries (e.g. textile and fashion, small electric products) that require some knowledge and handicraft skills. It is also characterised by an active private economy. Taking advantage of Bei Lun Port, it develops import and export trading business very fast.

However, facing an overheating economy and hot money that floods in, the Chinese government has taken a series of tight monetary measures (e.g. raising interest rates five times this year and issuing RMB20 billion bonds). It is no doubt that private enterprises have been affected, especially in loaning and financing.

Therefore, the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) has established the Centre for Global Finance under these circumstances. The Centre has received a generous donation from Mr. KK Chung, Chairman of Maxdo Group Ltd. Its head is Sue Bishop, former British Consul General in Shanghai.

According to Prof. Yang Fujia, Head of UNNC, the Centre aims to attract first-class professionals from both the UK and China, teaching subjects of common concern and inviting enterprises of both countries to participate. Combining sophisticated UK financial theory within the unique Chinese situation, it provides rational foresight and workable advice.

15th September saw the opening ceremony on the campus and the first Sino-UK Finance Seminar afterwards. PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Royal Sun Alliance and Standard Chartered Bank, together with professors from the University of Nottingham delivered wonderful presentations and shared valuable experience. The audience rewarded them with prolonged applause.