Key companies from the North East have come together to develop a strategy to encourage more Chinese investment into the region.

A roundtable event in the region – one of several taking place across the North – involved 22 of the region’s leading property companies and business organisations.

The firms took part in a debate to discuss how the region can tap into Chinese investment at the event, which was hosted by hosted by design and engineering company Atkins with support from Invest North East England and Invest Newcastle, a service delivered by the NewcastleGateshead Initiative to secure new investment and jobs for the city.

Over the last decade the UK has been a top tier recipient of Chinese investment and last year the Government announced £30bn of deals where Chinese capital would be investing in the UK. The aims of the roundtables were to further understand Chinese interest in the North and its relationship with the region, as well as giving an opportunity to explore the key challenges and opportunities to better promote this region to potential foreign investors.

The Newcastle event brought together Invest Newcastle with the North East LEP, Newcastle City Council, and firms including Hanro Ltd, Highbridge Properties Plc, Bradley Hall, UK Land Estates, Adderstone Group, Bilfinger GVA and Arch, The Northumberland Development Company.

John Jenkinson, China lead at the Department of International Trade and Jianding (Geordie) Wang, chairman and founder of Humblebees International Investment Club and MD of CoMarketing UK (China-British association) and ChinaEuro Associates also took part.

Phil Dyer, Atkins’ director for the Northern Powerhouse, said: “The North East is full of attractive opportunities for Chinese investors. China is already investing here and we want to help build on that enthusiasm. The conversations we are having through these workshops mean we can now help developers prepare the best and most attractive opportunities to our investor community in China.”

The discussion saw attendees identify and debate a wide range of issues, including the opportunities devolution offers, and what Brexit means for the area.

 

 

Catherine Walker, inward investment director at Invest Newcastle, said: “Newcastle is becoming increasingly attractive to foreign investors. Now is the time to identify a strategic approach, allowing us to secure international private sector investment to launch and accelerate key projects.

“The roundtable was a fantastic first step in bringing together key businesses and stakeholders in Newcastle, and the wider North East, to deliver a unified message and strong proposition of investment opportunities.

“We’re working to continue this momentum through our attendance at Mipim 2017 where we will be joined by at least 20 private sector businesses – showcasing to the global property and investor market the opportunities Newcastle has to offer.”

Bill Huang, director of Chinese investor relations at Atkins, said: “Our discussion in the North East was another fantastic opportunity to gather valuable feedback and intelligence which I will be able to take to influential clients in China.

“The North East is already well known for Japanese investment, with Nissan being the area’s largest private employer. We need to build on this success and broaden the appeal to other global investors to achieve future infrastructure goals.”

The North East is the second in the series of debates, which are also planned to take place in Tees Valley, Manchester and Cumbria.

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