On 15 June, BritCham Shanghai was delighted to meet with the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce (SCOFCOM) and Invest Shanghai.
BritCham Shanghai Chairman Ray Chisnall and Executive Director James Dunn introduced the Chamber and its advocacy work since 2019. Executive Committee member Alex Roberts presented the six key recommendations of British Business in China: Position Paper 2021 to SCOFCOM’s Vice Chairman Ms Zhu Yi and Invest Shanghai’s President Mr Xue Feng.
The Chamber and SCOFCOM exchanged views on key issues such as cross-border travel, talent attraction, market reform, cybersecurity, cross-border capital flows and a level playing field, as outlined in Position Paper 2021.
Despite challenges in China-UK relations, a strong bilateral trading relationship and the importance of continued engagement with China were highlighted in the session.
According to the 2020 Annual Information Report on Foreign-funded Enterprises, by the end of 2020, there are in total 1,337 British companies in Shanghai. As of May 2021, the accumulative actual British investment in Shanghai was 3.694 billion USD.
SCOFCOM, Invest Shanghai and the Chamber will strengthen dialogue and cooperation and promote the development of bilateral economic, trade and investment relations.
Ms Cong Ying, Vice Director of SCOFCOM’s Foreign Investment Administration Division; Mr Dai Chenli, Deputy Director of SCOFCOM’s Foreign Investment Promotion Division and Ms Wang Yi, Deputy Director of European Department of Invest Shanghai also attended the meeting.