On 10 February, BritCham Shanghai was delighted to meet with Invest Shanghai.
Invest Shanghai’s President Mr Xue Feng, Vice President Mr Sun Fang welcomed BritCham Shanghai Chair Ray Chisnall, Executive Director James Dunn and Deputy Executive Director Janet Jiang.
President Xue introduced the achievements of Shanghai in terms of economic development and attracting foreign investment last year. In 2021, Shanghai achieved a regional GDP of RMB 4.3 trillion, an increase of 8.1% year-on-year, and a record high of US$22.551 billion in actual foreign direct investment for the year, an increase of 11.5% year-on-year. He also reviewed Invest Shanghai’s cooperation with BritCham Shanghai in 2021, including Chamber member company visits and promotion activities in Shanghai’s ‘Five New Cities’. Invest Shanghai looks forward to working with the Chamber again in the coming year to plan more activities, strengthen the interaction between organisations and businesses, and help British businesses develop better in Shanghai.
Chair Ray introduced the Chamber’s inaugural Sustainability and ESG Summit held last year; the efforts the Chamber has made to restore direct flights between China and the UK for the sake of long-term business links and cultural exchange. Ray also presented the British Business in China: Sentiment Survey 2021-2022, which shows that 70% of UK businesses expect their revenues in 2021 to be the same or higher than in 2020. In addition, the acceleration of technological innovation, the continued development of the Chinese economy and the implementation of the double carbon target will provide further market opportunities for UK businesses in China in the future.
At the meeting, the Chamber and Invest Shanghai exchanged views on topics that cover: digital transformation of cities and industries, sustainable development and ESG, deepening the development of key industries in Shanghai’s ‘five new cities’, and the Chamber’s plan to organise promotion activities related to the 50th anniversary of the establishment of ambassadorial relations between the UK and China.
