UK expects more opportunities for industrial collaboration with China

The UK expects more industrial collaboration opportunities with China bolstered by the country's rapid upgrading, British officials said at the 19th China International Industry Fair.

The country’s “Northern Powerhouse” and “Midlands Engine” schemes are similar to the “Made in China 2025” with its focus on industrial upgrading, which offers opportunities to cooperate among producers in the two countries, said Martin Phelan, international investment director at the UK Department for International Trade. The UK is the industry fair's country of honor this year.

China’s rapid industrial upgrading has boosted exports of advanced technologies and services from the UK, given that last year almost 2,000 companies in the Midlands, an area cluttered with advanced technologies such as automobiles and aviation, exported over 3 billion pounds (US$3.9 billion) worth of goods to China.

China’s companies have also been participating in UK’s industrial development and upgrading. Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co has built cranes for the latest port at Liverpool, while BYD, a Chinese carmaker, delivered 12 fleets of new energy vehicles in that city at the beginning of this year and “helping the city shift to ‘greener’ development,” Christine Vaudrey, international head for UK's international business festival, said.